


Taking Inventory

by newbatgirl



Series: Taking Inventory [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-25
Updated: 2015-01-10
Packaged: 2018-03-03 14:05:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2853497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newbatgirl/pseuds/newbatgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve discovers that Darcy has more than one job at Stark Tower.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. It Happened One Night

**Author's Note:**

> AU, I guess, since I am not factoring in the events of CA:TWS but I am assuming that everything in T:TDW took place. Basically I am doing whatever I please, if you have a question about that, please leave it in the comments. Story is told in alternating POV of the two main characters. It should not be too hard figure out whose head we are in at any given time.
> 
> This is my first fic in this fandom so go easy on me. ;)

Chapter One - It Happened One Night

Steve Rogers had lived in Stark Tower for a month before he realized how it ran. Not the clean energy end of things that Tony bragged about (and that Steve only pretended to understand). Not much of what happened on the R&D floors because he really tried to stay out of any lab that was not run by Dr. Foster or Dr. Banner. (And he sure as Hell stayed out of Tony's workshop because no one in their right mind other than Pepper went in there willingly.) **  
**

No, when he said "how Stark Tower ran" he meant he finally found out who ran it.

Turns out it was Darcy Lewis.

Darcy Lewis, the girl...woman...who had been living in the Tower when Steve arrived but whose job description seemed decidedly murky, actually ran Stark Tower. And, for some reason, when Steve moved in (after months of cajoling from Pepper, Phil Coulson, Natasha, and finally, from Thor) ...no one told him. Later he realized that it was because most of them didn't know either.

Darcy Lewis ran Stark Tower...or at least the residential portion of it, largely behind the scenes and without acknowledgment.

He found out by accident late one night, oddly enough because he could not sleep...and he had forgotten to buy milk.

*****

_Stark Tower - Residential Common Area Kitchen...late night..._

Darcy Lewis closed the cupboard next to the enormous common area fridge and tapped the screen of her tablet. They would be out of cereal within a day, that was clear. The hard part was deciding how much of each kind to buy.  Thor was fickle when it came to breakfast cereals. He would find a favorite, eat enormous quantities of it, then fall out of love with it quickly. Darcy tried to keep up but sometimes he got the drop on her and she was left with six boxes of Peanut Butter Puffins that none of the other team members wanted. At least when he had gone off Captain Crunch, there had been plenty of other takers.

She heard a noise behind her and looked up.

Well, then...speaking of captains...

Steve Rogers, looking for once not perfectly starched and pressed, stood in the entryway of the kitchen. He wore sweatpants and a t-shirt whose fabric was doing a valiant effort to remain intact against the irresistible force that was his torso. Okay, maybe she was exaggerating just a bit. But really, why did all his t-shirts fit like that?

"Hey, Steve. Did I wake you?" Steve, not Captain America. It had taken her two weeks to remember not to call him by that name in the Tower. They all preferred using their real names here. Except Tony, who probably called himself Iron Man every time he passed a mirror.

"Hey, Darcy...no, I couldn't sleep... Then I realized I didn't have any milk in my place..."

He reached around her to grab a carton from the fridge, then a glass from the cupboard over the sink.

Darcy nodded, and opened another cupboard to begin the decision making process about which pasta shapes to keep on hand. When she assumed she would never use her political science degree in the Tower, she hadn't known what strong feelings Clint had about rotini versus radiatore.

"What are you doing?" Steve finally asked, after watching her count elbow macaroni boxes and tap her tablet.

She shot him a smile, even though she was trying to keep numbers in her head. "What does it look like? It is easier to do this at night when you guys are asleep. Otherwise, you all would distract me, or worse, argue with me."

"Do...what, exactly?"

Darcy blinked at him. "Oh, you're really asking. I thought you meant... Never mind, I'm doing inventory. Same as I do every Thursday."

"Inventory?" He looked over the rim of his glass at her, then at the cupboards. When he lowered his glass, there was a slight milk mustache that Darcy had to look away from quickly, lest she do something phenomenally stupid. Like use "lest" in a sentence out loud.

"Inventory." She repeated, pausing to count bags of egg noodles. Natasha claimed to hate kugel but Darcy had noticed that there were never any leftovers when she made it. "Someone has to make sure this kitchen is stocked. And it needs to be done weekly because, duh, superheroes eat a lot."

"But...why is this your job? Doesn't Stark have...something that does that automatically?"

Darcy rolled her eyes and closed the cupboard. "Look at you trusting technology. We've made you dependent on microprocessors already. Actually, no. As awesome as JARVIS is - and you rock big guy...." She paused to say to the ceiling.

"Thank you, Miss Lewis. As do you." JARVIS replied.

Steve raised an eyebrow at that. "Is he flirting with you?"

Darcy ignored his question because she was still working on the other one. Besides, her relationship with JARVIS was not easily explained. "As awesome as JARVIS is, this is a job for a human. A human that actually interacts with you guys, knows your moods, and preferences, etc. You didn't happen to notice how many more cartons of milk there were left in there, did you?"

"Uh...no, I didn't think to... I'll check now..."

"No worries, Rogers. I got it. It is my job after all." She squeezed by his large frame to open the fridge door again. Darcy felt his eyes on her as she shook the container he had just used, judging how much was left. She then checked the juice supply, as well as the cheese drawer, before closing the fridge.

 **"** Why?"

 **"** Why what?" She added chocolate milk to the dairy list and looked up.

"Why is it your job and not...Pepper's or someone else who works for Tony?"

"You think the CEO of Stark Industries has time to count cereal boxes...in addition to all the work it takes to keep Tony alive?"

"Well, when you put it like that...but don't you already have a job here? You work for Dr. Foster and Dr. Banner. In the lab."

Well, at least he knew that much about her. Well, that wasn't fair. Steve had  always been friendly when they ran into each other in the Tower. There just wasn't a lot of occasion for them to interact, outside of this room. This was the one room where everyone needed to go. it was like Rick's in Casablanca. Or Cheers.Did that mean she was Norm?

Hmmmm...

 **"** I do, but that job hardly keeps me tied up 24/7. In fact, after I organize their files, supplies and keep them watered and fed, there's actually a lot of downtime. And it was during that downtime that I figured out that this job wasn't being done so I had Pepper assign it to me."  

By this time, Steve had taken his milk to the other side of the counter and settled on one of the stools to watch her work, which wasn't distracting at all. Nope.

"Don't take this the wrong way, Darcy, but since I woke up, I haven't met a whole lot of people who go looking for more work to do."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "I'm going to ignore what was probably an insulting but not altogether inaccurate assessment of my generation and just focus on the part that I hope was a compliment directed at me..."

Steve shrugged, not giving either way.

"What can I say?  You hero-types are a good influence on my slacker self." She tapped her tablet again.

"What are you typing anyway?" He asked, leaning forward to get a closer look at her device.

"Inventory app. Pepper and I built it after I apprised her of the situation here."

"The situation?"

"Jeez, is that how SHIELD teaches you guys to interrogate? To just repeat everything the other person just said?"

"Sorry?"

"No, you're not. Yes, situation. When Jane and I moved in here, which was about two months before you did, this space was kind of an afterthought. The apartments were pretty much as they are now, as in awesome, but this area..." She gestured around them at the large open kitchen and lounge area, stocked with books, a giant screen TV, every gaming system on the planet, and tons of games, both digital and board. "...was pretty unfinished."

"I guess Tony figured everyone needed really comfortable places to chill out on their own but he didn't give much thought to where you would do that together. And I couldn’t see how you'd ever become a real team without that so Pepper and I put our heads together and voila..."

"Voila, what? You guys made this place?"

"Pepper gets credit for the design. I am pretty sure she has minions for that. Like actual little yellow ones in goggles..." When Steve didn't laugh, she looked up at the ceiling and said. "JARVIS, make a note to remind to Steve to look up the Despicable Me movies at some point."

"Noted, Ms. Lewis."

"Thanks, big guy. Now, where was I... Oh, yeah, the design was all Pepper but the strategy was mine. We had to set this place up so you guys would want to be here. That meant having food, drinks, and cool stuff out here so you all wouldn't stay holed up in your apartments when you weren't on missions. And you don't!" She added triumphantly. "But that also means someone has to make sure this space is stocked when you need it, hence the inventory. And inventory needs to be done every week."  And with that she nodded at him, and tapped on her tablet again.

When she looked up from the produce section of her app, Steve was staring at her. "I've been here a month. How come I haven't noticed any of this until now?"

“Because you’re not supposed to?” she shrugged one shoulder. “I don’t know exactly what Tony  was thinking in having you all live here but I’m guessing it had to do with making it as convenient as possible for you guys to go off and save the world at irregular intervals. And the whole point of doing what I do is to make it as convenient as possible for you to be here when you're not doing that. Therefore it doesn’t make any sense for you guys to come back from fighting off an alien invasion and wonder if you remembered to buy milk.” She nodded towards his now empty glass.

“Wow, that’s a...good point. A really good one.”

“Why do you sound so surprised?”

“I don’t, I’m not... “ He sighed and stood again. “I guess I am feeling pretty dumb for not noticing what you did before. I’m supposed to be observant. Sorry for that. And thanks for doing all this. And for the cooking.”

“You’re welcome.” She picked up her tablet again, ready to tackle the produce. “Just remember to put that glass in the dishwasher. Cleaning up after super soldiers is NOT part of this job.”

“Yes, ma --- “

“And if you call me 'ma’am' so help me, Steve, I will never order black cherry ice cream for you ever again. I’m not somebody’s great aunt!”

Steve closed his mouth with a faint but still audible pop. Darcy went back to counting onions. Behind her, she heard the dishwasher open and close. After a moment, he spoke again, causing her to lose count.

“Can I help?”

“You want to help me count produce?”

He shrugged. And Darcy was reminded that his shoulders were massive.  And she forgot the onion count again. “Why not?”

“Because it’s boring. And my job.”

“It’ll get done faster if I help, right?”

“That remains to be seen.” She sighed. “But if it keeps you off the streets… Which do you prefer, the counting or the recording?”

Steve looked down at her tablet, then frowned at her. “Really?”

“Was worth a shot. Thought you might surprise me.”

Twenty minutes later, Darcy closed out her inventory app and smiled at Steve. “All done, and marginally faster than I would have done on my own so thanks for that.”

"So what now?”

“Now, that order gets sent to Pepper’s suppliers, cc’d to her so she can pay for it out of the mysterious Avengers budget. Should be delivered Saturday as usual."

“So that’s why you’re always cooking a lot on Sundays?”

”That’s why I always cook on Sundays.” she affirmed. “So, that was probably boring enough to cure your insomnia. You headed back to bed?"

*****

Steve found he wasn't in a hurry to go back to his apartment. For one thing, he wasn't tired and staring up the ceiling having JARVIS read Google entries to him wasn't exactly appealing. For another thing, Darcy didn't really look tired either.

She was dressed for bed - a fact he had been trying desperately to ignore - in a black tank top and black and red flannel pajama pants. She had her hair pulled into a loose, messy ponytail that he noticed kept whipping over the back of her bare neck. Didn't that get annoying? He had wondered that about Thor's hair once or twice before too but decided against asking.

"No, I am actually not tired yet. I think that last mission threw my sleep cycle off. How about you?"

"Me?" She looked surprised that he had asked. Was is because they really had not spent a lot of time together...or maybe she was eager to be rid of him? The fact remained, that despite living in the same building for a month, he didn't know her that well. He knew she worked in the lab, had a quick sense of humor (even if he didn't get a lot of her jokes), that the others seemed to like her a lot, and that she was very pretty, at least in his opinion. She was curvy in that way that reminded him of the girls in the calendars that hung in the barracks. On the other hand, she could be almost as blunt as Stark and he'd once seen her win an argument with Tony over fire extinguishers in the labs by simply staring at him over the rims of her glasses. Darcy was not easy to figure out.

"Yeah, what were you planning to do now?" Steve had no idea what he expected her to say but he was struck by the reliazation that he didn't want this...whatever this was, this time that was just the two of them in this big space, to end. Darcy was nice to look at, surprisingly easy to talk to and his apartment was empty and silent.

"I, uh...usually watch a movie to wind down after I finish this. Want to join me?"

Yes! "Yeah, sure. So, what are we watching? Something from the last twenty-five years so I can get some of those references I keep missing?"

Darcy wrinkled her nose at him and stalked toward the couch across from the TV. "Shows what you know, Mr. Smarty Camouflage Pants." She grabbed a throw blanket and shook it out before draping over herself as she flopped down. "JARVIS, queue up the movie I tagged on Netflix please."

"Yes, Ms. Lewis. Shall I dim the lights as well?"

"Theater us up, J."

The television powered on and within seconds music swelled and the credits - in black and white - began to scroll. Familiar credits.

"Hey..." Without taking his eyes off the screen, he inched over the couch next to her and sat down. "I haven't seen this since before the war started. It was one of my mother's favorite's." He looked over at Darcy, snuggled up to her neck under the throw. She grinned.

"Well, I guess that's something we have in common. It's one of my mother's favorites too. And now it's one of mine."

"This is one of your favorites? This movie was made in the 1930s."

"So?" She nudged his leg with her foot. "You're not the only thing that ages well, you know."

And with that they settled in to watch "It Happened One Night." Whether by accident or design, Darcy had managed to pick an 80-year old movie, a film actually more out of its time than he was.

They didn't talk much during the movie but Steve found himself genuinely amused by all the little noises Darcy made as she watched, even the squeak she emitted when Clark Gable removed his shirt.

When the end credits rolled and JARVIS returned the lights to their previous level, Steve was feeling much more relaxed. He looked down and found at some point along Peter Warne and Ellie Andrews' road trip, his legs had gotten under Darcy's throw blanket.

Darcy sat up and stretched like a cat, shaking off the throw in the process and reminding Steve that, yes indeed, she was extremely female. He quickly averted his eyes as she stretched and focused on untangling himself from the blanket as well.

"That was great. Thanks for picking it."

"I picked it before I knew I was going to have a movie buddy. I am glad you liked it. You're just lucky I wasn't in the mood for my semi-annual Steel Magnolias cry-fest."

"Steel what?"

"Uh...that's an explanation for another time. If you're still feeling sleepless after that, Rogers, I can't help you. I'm beat and more than ready to go dream of Clark Gable."

"He's dead..." Steve frowned, realizing that he wasn't absolutely sure of that fact. "He's got to be dead, right?"

"Not in my head he's not. Thanks for the help tonight and the company. Night, Steve."

Darcy was up and off the couch before he could protest or do anything else besides rise to his feet as manners demanded and say good night to her return. She wiggled her fingers at him in parting as she disappeared down the hall and Steve let out a breath that he hadn't realized he had been holding.

He had felt the overwhelming urge to ask he if he could walk her to her apartment but he stamped it down. Like so many of his instincts, the urge to see Darcy to her door was outdated and not really appropriate. That kind of behavior was for dates and this wasn't a date. It was two people hanging out watching an old movie because they both happened to live in what he had once called "that big ugly building in New York."

Except...the end had felt a little like a date.

End Chapter. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The movie "It Happened One Night" was made in 1934. It stars Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert. If you have never seen it, I highly recommend seeking it out. While I do not think it is currently streaming on Netlfx, I have seen it on Amazon and iTunes. It is one of those movies that is so much of a classic that when you watch it for the first time, you realize how much pop culture has been riffing on it for the past few decades. It's very influential and, despite being 80 years old, still really fun to watch.


	2. The Shawshank Redemption

Chapter Two - The Shawshank Redemption

For the next week, Steve Rogers attempted to be more observant about the goings on in Stark Tower. He told himself that he was observing everything but after a few days, he had to admit to himself that he was really observing things as they related to Darcy Lewis. But he rationalized that because he decided that those things were apparently what he had missed before. So...it was fine.

The first thing he noticed was that his teammates and the other residents of the Tower seemed as oblivious to Darcy's other job as he had been. Or if they weren't, they didn't mention it. Everyone was in and out of the common are kitchen/lounge at all hours of the day and they seemed to take for granted that everything they wanted would be available at any given time. From that weird, thick coffee that Natasha drank to whatever multi-color cereal Thor was eating this week. (Steve had sampled both and decided that there was no shame in sticking to regular coffee and his preferred Cheerios.)

He stopped short of feeling angry that his teammates hadn't noticed Darcy's efforts because, almost without exception, they treated her like a favorite little sister. Thor, in fact, called her "Lightning Sister" quite frequently. When Steve asked Jane about the name, she had barely looked up from the physics journal she was reading and absently told him that the name came from "the tazing thing." Which explained nothing.

Natasha and Darcy acted very much like sisters in one key respect: clothes. There always seemed to be some drama going on about some borrowed article of clothing. They exchanged barbs, threats, and complaints but they never really got angry with each other. Steve noticed that they also never stopped borrowing each other's clothes.

Clint and Tony seemed to be competing for the role of Darcy's most obnoxious older brother, never missing an opportunity to tease, annoy, or play adolescent pranks on her. It was a level of humor that Steve knew well from boot camp, and frankly, from having been a twelve-year old boy himself. Darcy called them "Beavis and Butthead" to their faces, prompting Steve to consult Google again. Since Darcy seemed to take the pestering in stride and could fling insults back in the blink of an eye, Steve resisted the strong urge to intervene on her behalf.

Most of the time.

One morning early in the week, an over-caffeinated Tony, having spent all night working in his lab, had come down to the kitchen to spread chaos and steal bacon. He had fixated on Darcy, or more specifically, her bra straps.

After the third snap, Steve shot Tony the most threatening glare he could muster, pulling himself up to his full height, which easily topped Tony by a few inches. It worked better than he anticipated because Tony took his coffee and retreated back to the lab, not even waiting for the bacon.

The exchange had happened behind her back so Darcy watched Tony's retreat with some confusion.

"What's with him?"

Steve only shrugged. It wasn't a lie if he just didn't say anything, right?

*****

_Stark Tower - Residential Common Area Kitchen...late evening..._

That Thursday, dinner ran long in the common kitchen. With almost the whole group on hand - Tony and Pepper were out at some event and Natasha out of town on a SHIELD mission - it was a good night to break out some trays of lasagna from the freezer. The trays were quickly demolished - Thor ate three quarters of one by himself and thankfully remembered not to smash the baking dish - and everyone lingered around on the lounge sofas in various stages of pasta- coma.

When it became clear that no one was going anywhere, Darcy decided to start her inventory anyway. Clint and Thor were playing a very low energy game of Mario Kart since both men had eaten so much they could barely lift the controllers.

Jane and Bruce had commandeered one of the low tables in the corner of the room and were currently hunched over a carafe of coffee and the board game Pandemic...which Darcy found both frightening and reassuring in equal measures. No doubt they viewed this activity as vigorous training on par with anything the other team members did in the gym.

Settling herself in front of the cupboards, Darcy tapped her inventory app, only to start slightly when Steve appeared next to her, seemingly out of nowhere. "Need a hand?"

"Wow, that wasn't unsettling at all. You pick up a new super power and not tell us?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to sneak up on you. So, do you want help?"

Darcy nodded towards the doctors. "You don't want play a game about one or more deadly contagions spreading across the world with two super-geniuses?"

Steve followed her gaze. "What happened to chess?"

"Not enough imminent global peril for this crowd. You want to count again?"

"Yes, please." The ma'am was unsaid but heavily implied.

"One of these days, you may surprise me, Rogers."

He glared at her tablet. "Not today."

They moved through the tasks more quickly than the week before, this time trading occasional observations of their fellow team members that helped with the decision making...

Such as:

"You ate breakfast with Thor this morning. How many bowls of Lucky Charms did he eat?"

"Three...but he didn't finish that last one."

"Hmmmmm... Those go off the list."

"Natasha is due back on Sunday."

"What continent is she coming from?"

"That's classified...but if you guessed Asia, I wouldn't correct you."

"Asia. Jet lag. Order extra coffee, got it. Thanks."

"Who eats all this yogurt?"

"Bruce."

"The Hulk is worried about his waistline?"

"Hey, the pants gotta fit when he shrinks back down."

"We seem to be going through Pop Tarts more quickly than usual."

"How is that even possible? You buy them by the crate."

"I think we have Pop Tart thief around here."

"I could be up for another movie when we're done."

"Are we out of popcorn.... Wait, what?" His statement snapped her out of the comfortable rhythm they have developed.

Steve pointed over his shoulder with his free hand - the hand that didn't have a carton of kiwi yogurt in it - at the TV. "Whenever they're done, do you want to watch a movie?"

Yes! Be cool, be cool, be cool.

"Yeah...sure. Movie good." Holy crap, she was speaking like the Hulk! Darcy coughed to cover her mistake. "Uh...what are you interested in watching? Another classic?"

Steve shook his head. "We don't have to just watch things that are familiar to me, you know. I think I can handle movies with colors and everything." By this time they had returned everything to the fridge and cupboards and we're just standing across from each other with their elbows propped on the counter, the tablet between them.

"Sarcasm. Now that is a super power," Darcy teased, as she reveled in the smile Steve gave her.

"I was looking at this list---" he began, only to be interrupted by Jane plunking down her coffee mug onto counter between them.

"Contagion is spreading in Europe but I need another coffee if we're going to beat it. Darcy, where's the sugar?"

Steve and Darcy stopped smiling and straightened simultaneously, conveying the concept "you just interrupted something" to Jane more plainly than if they had held up a neon sign.

Darcy pointed to the counter behind her. "Same place it always is. And please don't tell us what contagion you are trying to cure. We just ate."

"Right, sorry." Jane dumped a couple of teaspoons into her cup and squeezed past Darcy to head back to her game but Darcy noticed her stealing glances over her shoulder as if she was trying to figure out what she had interrupted.

"So...the list?"

"Right, the list. I found this list of influential American films from the last fifty years and it sounded like someplace to start."

Darcy clapped her hands. "Look at you with the outside research! Totally a great place to start. So which ones looked good to you?"

Almost shyly, Steve reached into the pocket of his dress pants - he had spent the day in meetings at SHIELD - and pulled out the small black notebook Darcy knew he used to keep track of things he wanted to research. She was going to need to remember to ask JARVIS to take notes for him digitally, at least when he was in the Tower.

He turned pages until he found the list he was looking for, then handed her the book.

In Steve's careful writing, she saw the following list:

The Shawshank Redemption

Field of Dreams/Bull Durham

Rocky (1 and 2 only?)

Raiders of the Lost Ark

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid

Apollo 13

Star Wars was also on the list but Darcy noticed a small check mark next to it.

"When did you watch Star Wars?"

"We had a long flight back from a mission last month. Natasha and Clint pulled them up on one of these..." He pointed at her tablet. "Wouldn't let me off the plane until I finished them."

"Them? All three?" God, she hoped it was just the first three. If they had made him watch the prequels... Well, that was no way to treat a teammate and Darcy might have to plot appropriate revenge.

"All three. Really long flight. So what do you suggest we watch first?"

Darcy bit her lip in thought. There was no need to put eye candy like Kevin Costner and Harrison Ford on the screen when the view next to her was so good, even in dimmed lighting.

"Shawshank. It is going to be tough at times but it's worth it. Trust me." She handed him back his little book and their fingers brushed on the marked page. It was possible that she held onto the book slightly longer than was necessary but it probably wasn't obvious to him. Right? Right.

"I do," he replied, and her stomach flipped. Lasagna and all. Oh boy.

Thor's booming voice broke their moment.

"Those kinds of dishonorable tactics cannot stand, Barton. We shall have a rematch and behave with integrity!"

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Stop cheating, Clint!" she shouted.

"You would do well to listen to Lightening Sister. She possess powerful weapons."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah... you Luigi again?" Clint grumbled, resetting the game.

Steve watched the cars spin on the screen for a minute before turning back to Darcy. "Doesn't look like we're getting the television for a while."

"No worries. I have it on Blu Ray at my place. C'mon."

She motioned for Steve to follow her out the the room - grateful that Jane seemed too distracted by the deadly virus sweeping through Eastern Europe to notice their exit.

*****

Darcy's apartment was on the floor below his, on a floor she only shared with Thor and Jane. There were actually three units in the floor but Thor never even bothered to enter the one that had been designed for him so Pepper had finally remodeled as a guest unit.

Darcy punched the code into the access pad and gestured again for Steve to follow her.

"My place is probably smaller than yours, with me being a lab flunky and not a living legend and all. JARVIS, lights."

Steve was about to counter the "lab flunky" assessment but he realized  that she was likely teasing so he focused on looking around her place instead. She was right, it was smaller. Her kitchen was much smaller and she did not appear to have the dining area that he had. It was a little ridiculous for him to have it given how few meals he ate in his apartment. And given that one corner of Darcy's living room held a desk and a bookshelf, he assumed that her place did that have the second bedroom likes his, where he had asked for a drafting table and shelving unit to be set up. He had no need for a second bedroom. What family of his would be visiting?

Shaking off the hint of regret that was creeping in, he admired how the apartment looked like the Darcy he had come to know, albeit very recently: bright, comfortable and decidedly practical. The couches were deep and large and covered in darker fabrics. The accents, like the lamps, pillows, latch hook wall hangings, and curtains, were in a rainbow of brighter tones. It was also pretty neat, a row of polished wooden hooks in various sizes near the door held her street coat, lab coat, a worn leather messenger bag and several colored scarves. The tiny galley kitchen had clean counters and no clutter save for an oversized maroon coffee mug.

"I like your place. I don't even use half the space they gave me."

She snorted. "You've only been here a few weeks. You'll figure it out." She walked to a smaller set of shelves next to the TV and flipped through cases until she found the one she wanted. "Here, queue it up. The remote is on the coffee table. I need to get out of these icky lab clothes. Be right back."

Steve stood frozen in pace for ten seconds because only the words "out of these clothes" registered in his brain. He collected himself quickly. It was her apartment after all. Why shouldn't she be able to change into comfortable clothes. Something other than probably constricting button down top she was wearing. He really hoped it was a tank top. No! He really hoped that it wasn't a tank top.

Shaking his head, Steve grabbed the remote and turned in the TV. As it powered up, he removed the tie he still wore, unbuttoned the top button of his shirt and rolled up his cuffs.

"If you want something to drink, there's water, juice and beer in the fridge," Darcy's voice rang out from the bedroom. "I don't have much the way of snacks, I don't keep a lot of food here."

"I'm fine. I'm not going to need to eat anything for a while." Steve knew he had not eaten as much as Thor or Clint but he had gone back for some pretty big seconds on the lasagna.

She re-entered just as he figured out how to skip past the previews on the Blu Ray menu. He was grateful that SHIELD had given him some lessons in operating everyday tech items. It made him feel marginally less awkward around other people. Darcy had changed into another tank, deep blue this time, and pajama pants that had a galaxy pattern on it - stars on a field of various shades of blues and purple.

"Oh good, you lost the tie. Not sure why they expect you to wear a jacket and tie for SHIIELD meetings when Fury runs around in black leather and combat boots half the time."

"Agent Coulson wears a suit and tie."

"Agent Coulson probably wore a suit and tie to kindergarten." She grabbed two bottles of water out of her fridge and closed the door with her hip. "You ready?"

Steve suddenly felt guilty. She was giving up a good chunk of her evening to watch a movie she had already seen with him. "Are you sure you feel like watching this? You've probably seen this already...I could just borrow the disc and watch it at my place...."

"Not on your life! I love this movie and I would never pass up the chance to watch it with someone who has never seen it."

Her response assuaged Steve's guilt enough that he pressed Play on the remote and settled on the couch. Darcy used the FBI warning time to drag a small leather ottoman over for her feet and drape a throw blanket around her shoulders. Steve wondered why she bothered with the throw but insisted on wearing tank tops when she could simply wear a warmer shirt. Not that he was complaining. Not at all.

Darcy was right about the movie. There were some these moments that he frankly felt uncomfortable watching with a da- with a woman but Darcy had nudged him with her foot during the first few and assured him that they would be over soon. Somehow, they had ended up sharing the ottoman, with the throw draped over both of their legs.

The ending was...fantastic. One of the best endings that Steve had ever seen and when the credits finished rolling, all he wanted to do was talk about it some more with Darcy. Luckily that seemed to be all she wanted to do as well.

She talked about seeing the movie for the first time in a high school ethics class and talking about it for weeks after with her classmates.

Steve pointed out all the references he had recognized, that he now knew to attribute to this movie, which led to a meandering discussion about various ways people at SHIELD had attempted to explain cultural references to him.

"...So needless to say, after the Billy Ray Cyrus incident, I just asked Coulson's assistant to send everyone a memo stating that I was capable of looking things up on my own."

Darcy laughed so hard, he noticed a tear streaming down her face. Steve felt more than a little pleased that anything he said could make someone as naturally funny as Darcy react like that. She looked amazing when she laughed. He had seen her laugh before, obviously, but when it was just the two of them and she was laughing just for him...

She'd kicked off the throw at some point, and hugged her knees to her chest as they talked, and her hair spilled down over her bare shoulders in a way that it never did when he saw her around the Tower.

He was trying to decide whether to ask her if they could watch another movie together on another night when her phone buzzed from the coffee table.

Darcy cursed under her breath and reached over to get it. That was when Steve noticed that it was after one in the morning.

Darcy was texting something on her phone. "It's Jane," she explained. "This absent-minded professor thing with her gets old fast."

"Is there a science emergency?" Steve asked.

"Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow."

Unfortunately, her words reminded Steve that it was tomorrow and as much as he'd like to stay and keep talking to her, they both had to work tomorrow. He stood.

"I hate to do this, but since it really is tomorrow..."

Darcy scrambled to her feet as well, tossing the phone down as she did. "Hey, I didn't mean that as a hint... Do you want to ..." She hesitated. "I mean, you have other movies on your list, right?"

"I do...but I also need to meet Fury and a team of agents for maneuvers in about five hours."

"Oh." Her mouth made an almost perfect circle on the syllable. That was really distracting.

"I wouldn't mind a rain check for another night. Maybe if we start early enough, we can do two? There are two movies about baseball, right?"

Darcy's smile was back and she clapped her hands. "Baseball double feature it is. You're going to love it. You'll see."

They lingered at her door, staring at each other for a few long seconds while Steve tried to decide where they stood. Were they friends? On their way to something else? It was clear that Darcy liked him...but Darcy liked everyone. She was everyone's favorite sister. Is that how she she viewed their relationship?

He leaned down and kissed her cheek, lingering slightly longer than necessary, with his hand at her waist. "Thanks, Darcy. I had a good time."

"Me too." She seemed to hesitate a bit but she finally leaned up and kissed him back, on his cheek, but closer to his mouth than was strictly friendly.  

He might be a man out of his own time but he was still a man. And it really felt like she was sending a message.

Later, in his bed, Steve closed his eyes and tried to think about the movie. But instead of Rita Hayworth, all he could picture was Darcy Lewis in her tank top.

**  
End Chapter.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Steve's list is constructed with help from the AFI Top 100 collection of lists. It is not MY list of favorite movies, it is a list that I imagine that Steve Rogers would gravitate to given his life experience, interests, the things he spends his days doing and what the people in this new life would recommend for him to see.


	3. Intermission

Chapter Three - Intermission

_Stark Tower - Residential Fitness Area...the next morning..._

Darcy had really hoped that Jane would skip their regular gym time in favor of extra thundering time with Thor that morning but no such luck. She spotted the petite scientist practically racing towards her elliptical machine the next morning.

Shit.

Quickly, Darcy upped the intensity on her machine and upped the volume on her (new) iPod, hoping that Jane would take both as signs that she was not in the mood to chat.

Jane hopped on the elliptical next to hers and pulled out Darcy's earbud cord. "Oh no you don't. You can't hide from me, Darcy Lewis. You dodged my question last night. You can't dodge it now. Did you or did you not disappear with Steve last night?"

"Wow, that was rude....and I did answer you last night." 

"'Bedtime for nosy astrophysicists' is not an answer."

"It is an answer. It's not my problem that you don't like it." She tried to plug in her earbuds again only to have Jane pull them out of reach. As Darcy was still trying to keep rhythm on her machine, she couldn't get it back without stopping. 

"Seriously, are you five?"

Pepper, who was across the room on treadmill, removed her own earbuds, climbed off her machine, and fixed them both with a Level 3 Pepper Glare. (Levels 6 through 10 were reserved for Tony.) 

"Do I have to separate you two?"

"She stole my earbuds!"

"She took Steve back to her apartment for hours last night and won't tell me what happened!"

Darcy covered her face with her hand.

Pepper sighed and walked to stand between their machines, hands on hips. She held her hand out to Jane for Darcy's earbuds. Jane handed them over without a word. Pepper then fixed her gaze on Darcy.

"You can have these back...when you tell us what you and Steve did in your apartment 'for hours' last night."

"Wow...just wow. When did the two of you turn into such..."

"Watch it, Darcy. We both know this conversation is going to happen either way but if you finish that sentence, I'm relaying it all to Tony and nobody wants that."

Damn it, Pepper was good.

"Fine," Darcy conceded, slowing her machine down to its regular pace. "There's nothing to tell. Steve has a list of movies he wants to catch up on. Clint and Thor were using the lounge TV so we went back to my apartment to watch Shawshank."

Jane frowned at Darcy then peered at Pepper over the panel of her elliptical.

"To watch Shawshank? Do we think that's code for something?"

"I don't know." Pepper replied thoughtfully.

"It sounds like it could be code. You know, as in..." Jane continued, then dropped her voice a few octaves. "'Get busy livin'..."

Darcy scowled, "Dear God, please tell me that is _not_ your Morgan Freeman. Never do that voice again."

"Stop dodging the question, Darcy!"

"It is not code. We watched the Shawshank Redemption. And then we talked about the Shawshank Redemption. Then he left. End of story. There was no 'getting busy' of any kind! Are you ladies happy?"

Pepper and Jane exchanged a look. "No!" Jane exclaimed. "You had Steve Rogers in your apartment and all you did was watch a movie? What the hell is the matter with you? You're single, he's single..."

"And... he totally does not see me like that."

"You don't know that. Did he say he doesn't see you like that?" Pepper prodded.

"No, but...why would he? The dude gets his fan mail delivered on a Mack truck. Supermodels ask him out on Twitter. Why would he be interested in me? Some random lab assistant?"

Jane stopped climbing on her machine. "Darcy, you don't actually think that, do you? Because that is ridiculous. You're gorgeous. You're sweet and you're loyal. What is not to like about you?"

"Loyal? That's where you went? See, you're my friend and even you can't come up with adjectives that don't describe my Aunt Ava's cocker spaniel. Look, he kissed me last night...on the cheek. I tried to signal that I was totally up for more but I got friend-zoned. Worse, I think I got sister-zoned."

"Darcy, you have to remember that the last time Steve went on a date, FDR was president. You don't know for sure that you're in any zone. Maybe he just really bad at reading women in this time period. Hey, for all you know, kissing you in the cheek was a big deal for him." Pepper told Darcy, while handing her back her earbuds.

"Pepper's right, don't give up so easily. I was totally not getting a sister-zone vibe from him in the kitchen last night."

Darcy rolled her eyes. "I have to remind you to eat and go to the bathroom most days, Jane. Forgive me if I am not overly confident at your ability to read actual humans. Just stick to rocket science. I refuse to get my hopes up about Steve, or anyone else when it's not warranted."

She put her earbuds back into her ears and jabbed at the volume button on her iPod until both Jane and Pepper got the message that she was done talking.

*****

_Stark Tower - Residential Common Area Kitchen...early afternoon..._

Steve returned from his SHIELD training session and headed straight for the common area kitchen. One, he was fairly certain whatever was in that common area refrigerator was better than anything he had in his own and two, there was a better chance of running into Darcy there. It had occurred to him that they had never actually said when they would watch the baseball double feature they had agreed to. Perhaps she just assumed that it would be next Thursday but he really wanted to be sure. And maybe he could also get some more signals from her as to where they stood.

Darcy was in the kitchen he arrived...but so was Bruce. He was sitting at the counter eating a sandwich, while Darcy appeared to be loading a tray with another sandwich and drinks.

"Hey, Bruce. Darcy." He nodded at the tray. "Lunch to go?"

Darcy made a face. "Apparently whatever science thingy Jane is monitoring can't be left unattended so lunch has to come to her or it won't happen at all."

"What about you? Don't you get lunch?" Steve asked. He stole a glance at Bruce and found to his dismay that other man was watching them with interest. That was both the strength and the drawback with this kitchen. There was usually someone else around.

"I ate earlier. Since Bruce here is a grown-up and can actually come get his lunch when it's time to eat, I got a ten whole minutes to myself before Jane started babbling about the speed of light and turkey versus roast beef." She looked down at the tray and picked up the smaller plate containing two cookies. "Here, you guys can split her cookies. She doesn't deserve dessert today."

Darcy plunked the plate down in front of Bruce and ruffled his already messy dark hair. "Your reward for being an adult." Bruce smiled at her and took his cookie.

"I am definitely planning on being an adult tomorrow, too." Steve frowned at this exchange. He had seen Darcy and Bruce interact in the lab before and there definitely had not been hair ruffling involved.

Before he could mull that over anymore, Darcy lifted the tray and headed towards the elevator. "Duty calls, see you guys later. Oh wait..."

She paused near Steve and fished in the pocket of her lab coat. "Think this is yours. Found it on my coffee table." She pushed something soft into his hand and was gone before Steve could answer. He looked down and recognized the soft fabric as the tie he had worn yesterday. He had been so preoccupied with how to end the night with Darcy that he must have forgotten it. He pushed the folded fabric into his back pocket.

Once again, he felt Bruce watching him openly, eyebrows raised. There was really no way to avoid giving some kind of explanation. "My tie. We were watching a movie last night. I must had forgotten it in her living room." Steve pulled open the fridge and began rummaging for food.

"What movie?"

"The Shawshank Redemption." He found a tray with leftover lasagna in it and decided it would be better than a sandwich. Since he hated what microwaves did to food, he stuck the tray in the oven. When he turned, Bruce was still watching him.

"The Shawshank Redemption." Bruce repeated.

"Yeah, good movie. Ending was great."

"I know that...but I'm kind of disappointed that you know that."

OK, what? "Why?"

Bruce fixed him with a look. "Let me put it this way, if I were you, alone in an apartment with _that_ woman, watching a movie, the last thing I would want to do was actually finish watching the movie!"

Steve was pretty sure his face turned as red as one of Tony's suits right about then. "It's not like that..."

Bruce nodded and turned his attention back to his lunch. "Sure." He slid the plate with the other cookie towards Steve. "Here, take your cookie."

Steve chewed his cookie silently for a moment before speaking again. "You don't beleive me."

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Because you looked about ready to take off my head when she messed up my hair just now. The super serum gave you a lot of gifts but a poker face wasn't one of them. And relax, she's gorgeous but I'm not looking. I saw you guys leave here last night. You're interested and I would bet she is too."

"Nothing happened." Steve didn't even bother refuting the poker face line. It was true.

"That's on you, buddy."

"Alright, so what should I have done?"

"Fairly certain they called them dates back in your day, too. Ask her." 

"I did, or I at least I think I did."

Bruce rolled his eyes. "If you're confused, I can guarantee she is. Let me guess, you suggested you guys watch another movie together, but didn't specify a day or time."

Crap. "OK, yeah but...she said yes, and secondly, I came in here today to clarify that and...she left."

"Probably because she thinks you friend-zoned her. You might want to fix that."

"Friend-zone? I don't even know that that means. How did I do that?"

Bruce got up from the counter to put his empty plate in the dishwasher. "The Friend-zone is where you place people you don't intend to date, usually by complimenting them but not making any romantic advances on them."

Crap, crap, crap. "I really don't think it's possible for me to have done that given that I didn't even know that it existed until right this minute," Steve said defensively.

Bruce stared at him and sighed. "Just tell me what you did and I will tell you if it's fixable."

Steve still wasn't sure this was entirely his fault. He folded his arms across his chest. "I told her I had a good time, that I wanted to do it again and I kissed her good night..." Bruce raised his eyebrows. "...on the cheek." He finished, then watched as Bruce covered his face with this palm.

Crap.

*****

Darcy passed Bruce in the hallway when she was on her way back to the kitchen. She could have sworn he smirked at her but she couldn't figure out why. Steve was still in the kitchen when she entered. He was leaning against the counter staring off into space. Looking as delicious as ever. While she had been honest earlier about not getting her hopes up, that didn't mean it was going to be easy. He might be out of her league and she may be relegated to the friend zone but he was still fun to look at.

"Hey, soldier, penny for your thoughts?" She said, trying to keep her voice light as she walked past him to slide the tray onto the counter. She probably shouldn't have been surprised to turn around and find Steve right next to her but she was.

"Yikes! Seriously, how do you do that? You're the only one who can sneak up on me!"

Steve seemed to ignore her question. Instead, he got closer, until their faces were only inches apart. Remember to breathe. Remember to...

"I screwed up."

"What? How?" She could practically count his eyelashes at this distance. Why did guys get the best eyelashes? It really wasn't fair.

"Bruce says I friend-zoned you. But I didn't mean to since I didn't even know what that was until his explained it to me. So if I did, it wasn't on purpose. I'm sorry."

"Um...OK, you're forgiven." So if he didn't mean to friend-zone her...remember to breathe....

He didn't move. "Wait...I'm not done."

"OK."

"I want to watch those movies with you."

"I know, I said..."

"But I want to take you to dinner first. Like a date. Will you go on a date with me?"

Oh. Yes! "Wow." Shit. That last one wasn't supposed to be out loud. 

"Wow? Is that good?"

God, he was adorable. "Yes. Wow is good. Wow was supposed to be yes but it came out wrong. I'd love to go out with you."

"Good. I mean, wow." He was staring at her mouth. "I shouldn't have kissed you on the cheek either, right?"

"You can have a do over now if you want."

He didn't wait for another hint and neither did she. When she felt his hand at her waist, as it had been the night before, she got up on her tip toes and leaned up so there was no way he could mistake how she wanted to be kissed this time. She shouldn't have worried. He went straight for her lips, covering them firmly yet gently with his own. She could tell he was trying to be clearer about what he wanted, but not press her too much. While she appreciated the effort, she wanted to be clearer about what she wanted this time too. Darcy reached up and pressed her hands on his shoulders and angled her mouth under his so he could...

OK..wow...

He wound his arm around her waist, underneath her lab coat, pulling her against him, and following her cues to deepen the kiss. Darcy could not hold back a moan when she felt his tongue stroke against hers for the first time. And by the way his fingers flexed at her waist, he liked it too.

For a first kiss, one that was taking place in the common area kitchen, no less, this was escalating quickly. They should probably stop. They should stop. They really needed to stop.

So... It turns out stopping was one of those things that were easy to say when you _weren't_ pressed up against Steve Rogers' chest with his mouth on yours...but not so easy to do when you were. Instead of pushing him away, Darcy pressed herself closer and tightened her hold on his shoulders.

"Sweet Jesus! Since when do you two swap spit?!!" Tony's voice rang out in the kitchen and Darcy started in Steve's arms, pulling her mouth from his and opening her eyes to see Tony standing in the doorway, smirking maniacally.

Oh. Shit. Did it get more embarrassing than being caught making out with Captain America...by Iron Man?

"Damn, Lewis, were you seriously thawing out the Capsicle right here in the kitchen?" Darcy opened her mouth the respond but she was distracted by the way Steve's arm tightened around her as he replied.

"Knock it off, Tony. It's not really your business." 

"Not my business? You're about to round second base on my kitchen counter." Second base? Seriously, they were nowhere near... You know, not really the point...

"Stop exaggerating," Darcy ordered. "Why are you down here anyway? Shouldn't you be blowing something expensive up in your lab?"

Tony ignored her question. "So...lovebirds, spill: dates, times, positions... Cap, latex technology, it's come a long way, am I right?" He drawled, wiggling his dark brows. "I mean, just in my lifetime..."

"You need to stop talking right now, Tony." Steve's voice was strained.

"And we are really done with this conversation... I have to go back to the lab anyway." Darcy told Steve, and tugged on his hand to indicate that he should come with her. He got the message and she took a little bit of pride in seeing that his eyes still looked a little glazed. She did that!

Tony shrugged and walked over to the stove, grabbed a mitt and pulled something out of the oven. "Is someone going to eat this lasagna?" Tony shouted, as she tugged Steve from the room.

"You are!" She called back. If Tony spent 20 minutes eating lasagna, that was 20 minutes he wasn't spreading the news of their kitchen make-out session throughout the building.

She pulled Steve into the elevator and punched the floor for the lab. Steve wrapped his arms around her waist again. This was fast becoming her favorite thing. Next to actually kissing him, of course.

"He's not going to let it go, you know." Steve told her. 

"We can handle him. And whatever we can't handle, Pepper will handle." He laughed in her ear. Wow, that felt good.

"You're pretty smart."

"I am."

"We let things get a little out of hand down there."

Darcy laughed. "A little, do you mind?"

"No, not at all."

"Me neither."

End Chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up...the first date.


	4. Baseball Double Feature

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, True Believers. Thank you for all the great comments and support I have received on this fic so far. It's my first venture into this fandom and it's been a lot of fun. Hope to finish this up soon. Any questions, please ask in the comments.
> 
> ETA: After posting, I noticed some spacing and formatting issues. I had switched from Google Drive to One Drive in between Chapters 3 and 4 and I now see that some of the formatting does not translate seamlessly. I will try to clean it up as I go on. Apologies for that.

Chapter Four - Baseball Double Feature 

_Stark Tower...lobby...the following evening... _

Darcy squeezed Steve's hand as he placed the palm of his other hand over the scanner in the Stark Tower elevator. The scanner beeped in approval and allowed him to push the button for the residential floors. She opened her mouth to comment just as the doors slid closed, only to have her words cut off by Steve taking her face in his hands and covering her mouth with his.  

Darcy was caught by surprise since he had not kissed her at all the whole time they were out at dinner. She grabbed his waist to keep her balance and ended up hooking her fingers into the belt loops of his jeans as she leaned into the kiss. One thing she decided in her haze, Steve Rogers could not have gotten these lips from any super serum. He was born with these.

He broke the kiss with a sheepish smile. "Sorry, I have been wanting to do that all night. "

"Ditto, but what was stopping you?" 

"I'm...not one for doing that kind of thing in public. I know things are different now but it's still kind of strange for me. I prefer..when we're alone...."

1940s thing. Duh. "Right, I keep forgetting." Darcy replied, leaning up to give him another brief kiss on the side of his mouth by way of apology...and because his mouth was rightthere.

"Now that's the nicest thing you could have said. The whole time we were out, I felt like people were staring at me because I was so awkward."

Darcy laughed and tugged on his belt loops again, "Well, I was staring at you and it sure wasn't because I thought you were awkward!"

Steve leaned in again, "We're still alone..."

Unfortunately, they had reached his floor by then and the doors slid open, revealing Bruce. He was looking down at his tablet when the elevator arrived but when he looked up and noticed Steve and Darcy mid-embrace, his face split into a grin. 

"Well, this looks promising," he quipped. 

"Bruce..." Steve began, probably trying to ward off any teasing but Darcy cut him off. "It's OK, Steve." She pulled Steve out of the elevator and with her free hand, ruffled Bruce's hair again as they passed. "Thanks for the assist, Doc, but we've got it from here."

"Glad to hear it...and you're welcome." Bruce smirked pointedly at Steve as the doors slid closed again. "Both of you..."

Steve sighed as they walked down the hallway to his apartment. "That's two...Assuming Tony hasn't held a press conference yet." 

"Pepper would never allow that...but we should expect him to do something. This is way too easy of a target for him. In the meantime..." Darcy nodded at his door. "you promised me a dinner and movie. I've had dinner - thanks for that - now I would like my movie." And some making out, please God. 

"I promised you two movies." He corrected and keyed in the code for his door.

There was no way she was getting through two movies without jumping him, especially not Bull Durham. Not with all those sexy scenes. Nope, no way.

After their unexpected session in the kitchen, they had made a date to go to dinner the very next day, partly because it was Saturday and partly because neither of them saw a need to wait any longer. It was a very casual thing, they'd both worn jeans and rode Steve's bike to nearby burger joint. Well, not  too  casual. It was one of those upscale farm to table burger places where  all the meat was supposedly grass fed and the potatoes organic...but not too fancy that Darcy felt the need to pretend she ate fancy salads because the place didn't even serve them. In short, her kind of place, and apparently his, too. 

Dinner was fun. Despite what he thought, Steve was not awkward. He was a little nervous at first, especially about stuff concerning manners and whether he was supposed to open doors and pull out her chair, etc. He calmed visibly when she told him that she didn't worry about that stuff and that he should do what felt natural. 

What apparently felt natural to Steve was telling funny stories about SHIELD - including a spot-on impersonation of Director Fury that almost caused Darcy to snort organic lemonade out of her nose. And when he talked about art school, he had pulled out a pencil and did two quick sketches on napkins: one of her in her lab coat and the other a view of his favorite park in Brooklyn when he was a kid. Both sketches were now tucked in her purse. 

Though he hadn't kissed her all evening, and she now knew why, they had held hands for most of the night and she had certainly enjoyed every second that she needed to hold onto his waist - wow! - on the motorcycle. And she was now more than ready for some more physical contact. 

Steve's apartment was bigger and nowhere near as cluttered as hers. Or maybe he was just better at putting things away. The furniture was simple, and he only had a few pictures on the walls, some of which she now suspected were his own work, now that she had seen a bit of what he could do.

He looked around, following her eye. "You've done way more with your place than I have." 

Darcy shrugged out of her suede jacket, underneath she worn a fitted, sleeveless blue top edged with lace - this was a date after all. "Or you just have less junk than I do."

She was pleased when all he said in response was "huh" because his eyes were on her...well, the top was working. 

"Very eloquent." She winked at him and handed him her jacket.

"Sorry?" He said, not sounding sorry at all. 

"No, you're not. I'd be disappointed if you were. I'm not saying  all  21st women dress to be stared at but I didn't exactly wear this for you to not like the way I look in it." 

Steve took off of his jacket and tossed it on the chair near hers. "The only 21st century woman I'm concerned with is you." 

"Bonus points for that line. You practice that?"

"I can think on my feet...and it's the truth."

Darcy grinned at him and flopped on the couch. "You're adorable. Start the movie before I jump you. Field of Dreams first, please. JARVIS, theater lights!" 

Steve started up the DVD player and settled next to her as the credits started. He surprised her by running his fingers down her bare arm. "Aren't you going to get cold? You usually have a blanket or something." 

"If I get cold, I expect you to think on your feet and do something about it." 

Without another word, Steve wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against him, settling her head against his shoulder. Darcy smiled contentedly and draped her arm around his waist. There was no way she was getting cold anytime soon. 

They tried to watch the movie. 

Sort of.

Darcy tried, she honestly did but the facts were these: she'd seen this movie before and secondly, before the credits were even over, Steve had buried his hand in her hair and she'd been rendered incapable of fully concentrating on anything other than his fingers.

Then, about twenty minutes in, Ray Kinsella made  a joke about not being sure that Shoeless Joe Jackson was still dead after thirty years and Steve whispered "amateur" in his Captain America voice directly into her ear and Darcy collapsed against him in a fit of laughter.  

"Oh for goodness sake, Is everything a contest with men? Am I going to have to find some dude who was dead for a hundred years to shut you up?"  

Steve laughed softly in her ear again but didn't pull away. He pressed his lips to her ear, then again to the spot on her neck just below her ear. He must have liked her reaction because he repeated the move on the other side of her neck and across her collarbone and Darcy was feeling like that time she picked up one of Tony's stray robot creations without checking for loose wires first. Decidedly sparky. 

"Steve..." She whispered thickly. "That feels amazing but if you don't kiss me soon, I'm going to ----" 

She actually had no idea how she was going to finish that sentence because he kissed her and her brain immediately shut down all speech function in favor of sensory processing.

Damn...even better than the kitchen.

The movie played on without them. 

Hands started to wander. Hers into his hair, his up her sides, teasingly close to her breasts.  After a few minutes of tugging, Steve took her hint and pulled off his sweater and tossed it away, leaving him in his white t-shirt. Darcy found herself pressed between his incredible torso and the arm of the sofa. She should have felt trapped. She should have felt intimidated. Instead she felt safe, warm and, thanks to way Steve looked at her between kisses, very sexy.

And it certainly didn't hurt that he was taking his time with erogenous zones that most men often missed. When you were built like Darcy Lewis, men tended to head straight for one, or rather,  two, targets right away. And while she wasn't going to complain when Steve got to her breasts, she appreciated that he was looking for additional ways to make her feel good. 

And his mouth on her skin felt really good.

Darcy drew her legs up onto couch, which allowed Steve to settle his body more securely over hers. The dual sensation of his body pressed against hers and his fingers pulling down the straps of her shirt finally pulled Darcy out her haze long enough to realize where this was headed. 

Reluctantly, she broke the kiss and caught her breath. She could hear him doing the same.

"Tell me if you want to stop," they said at the same time. Then stilled and burst out laughing.

"OK, if we're both relying on each other to know when to stop, this could be a problem."

"Yeah," Steve pulled back and put enough space between them that Darcy was able to sit up. She pulled the straps of her top back into place. 

Through the dim lighting, she could see a something like guilt creeping across Steve's face and she had to put a stop to that right away. "No guilt trips, Rogers. If I wasn't into it, you would have known it."

"I really don't doubt that, but I should have---"

"No... Don't finish that sentence if it involves you taking all the responsibility for what we  both  do. No martyrs in here. It's just going to make things messy."

Steve nodded. "Understood. So what now?" 

"Well, I think we can put a big  ol ' check mark next to mutual attraction on the list...and we should probably decide where and when sex factors into whatever we're doing here."

"I'm not going to lie, it's really hard  to be around you and not think about sex..." He admitted.

Darcy folded her hands, placed them under her chin, and gave him her finest eyelash flutter. "You say the sweetest things."

"BUT there's more." He paused and took a deep breath. "I think we could have something good here, in addition to sex. So we don't have to rush things tonight, especially if both of us aren't sure."

"Wow, you really can think on your feet. That was pretty good."

"You should know that I'm still thinking about sex as I am talking to you right now."

"God, so am I...but I do agree with you. I'm having a good time with you. I want to see where this goes. So we're on the same page? No sex tonight but I'm not going to lie either: I'm not nor have I ever been mistaken for a nun. I'm thinking sooner rather than later."

Steve exhaled sharply. "Thank God!"

"Should we shake on it or something?" 

"I think we could do better than that." He stretched his body over hers again. He stopped with his lips just centimeters from hers. "Deal?"

"Deal." Darcy gripped his neck to bring his mouth down in hers. 

Now that they'd agreed where this was and wasn't headed tonight, Darcy felt more free to explore. She pushed her hands underneath his white t-shirt and ran her fingers over what had to be the gold standard of six packs in the known universe. He shuddered a bit over her. Well that was a good sign...for the future. 

Steve went back to working on her straps and Darcy leaned her head back against the couch to give him room. That's when she noticed that the lights in the room were flashing on and off. And JARVIS was saying something.

"Captain Rogers, there is an urgent message for you. Captain Rogers..."

Darcy reluctantly shoved at his shoulders. "Steve... JARVIS is saying something...message..."

Steve pushed up with a sigh, "What is it, JARVIS?"

"Agent Barton has been trying to reach you on your phone. There is an Assemble order pending."

"Dammit," Steve climbed off the couch and dug his phone out of his jacket pocket. 

Darcy sat up and pushed her hair out her face. Assemble order. Figures. But if this thing with Steve was going to last more than one date, she should probably get used to it.

Steve was dialing Clint. "Barton, it's Rogers, what's the...." he pushed a hand through his already  mussed hair. "Are they sure?... Right, I get it... When do we leave?....Roof. Got it. See you up there."

Steve disconnected the call and looked over at Darcy. "I gotta go, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's your job. Go be heroic. I'll be here when you get back."

"Will you? I mean, will you wait here, at my place? I can't tell you much about this thing, it's local, and we're just being brought in as a precaution. Shouldn't be more than a few hours. Will you stay?"

"If you want me to."

"I do, I really do."

And there went that stomach flip again. How did he do that? 

"I'll stay...I may need to run back to my place to change but I'll come back."

Steve smiled and kissed her lips quickly. "JARVIS, make sure Ms. Lewis has access  to my place when I’m gone.”

"Yes, Captain Rogers."

Darcy kissed him again, just for that, then shoved at his chest. "Go get suited up, soldier. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can come back."

***** 

_ Stark Tower...roof helicopter pad...short time later... _

After checking in with Agents Barton and Romanov about strategy, Steve climbed into the helicopter to await takeoff. They were still awaiting instructions from Fury as to how close they could land near the stadium without causing a stir. 

The copter would only carry himself, Natasha, Clint, and Bruce plus a SHIELD agent to pilot. Stark and Thor would get there on their own power.

Bruce was already on the copter, stowing his spare set of clothes. He looked up and greeted Steve as he climbed in. Steve was still fastening the collar of his uniform and had not yet put on his cowl or gloves. And he really hoped he didn't have lipstick on his face. 

"Tough break to have your date get interrupted, huh?"

Steve pictured a rumpled Darcy lying underneath him on his couch. Tough wasn't even the right word. But he tried to remain cool. "It happens." 

Bruce smirked. "What movie were you watching?"

Steve blinked at him. "What?" 

"That's more like it!" Bruce clapped him on the shoulder. 

That's right, movie. They had been watching.... Baseball, something about baseball...

"Baseball." He muttered finally. "Field of Dreams...I think."

"Now that's ironic." 

"Tell me about it." 

Clint and Natasha climbed into the copter a minute later. Natasha seated herself next to the pilot to navigate while Clint slid into the seat next to Steve. He did a double take and then tapped his own cheek. "Hey, Cap, you got a little something...right there..."

Steve rubbed at his face. He could hear Bruce's laughter over the whirr of the helicopter blades. 

*****

_Stark Tower...meeting room...several hours later … _

Steve was getting antsy. The only thing he hated more than missions where nothing happened was debriefing meetings about missions where nothing happened. And was that exactly what he and the rest of the team were waiting to sit though right now. It hadn't even started because Coulson and Fury seemed to be taking their sweet time in getting to the meeting they had called.

The mission, as far as he was concerned, was a waste of time. The NYPD had received a threat from and self-proclaimed domestic terrorist to blow up Yankee stadium and the 60,000 people in it at a game tonight. There were at least two problems with the threat: for one, the Yankees were playing in Seattle that night and secondly, the "terrorist" in question was likely working alone and did not have anywhere near the expertise to build the kind of weaponry necessary to  pull off that kind of explosion. The guy was likely a nut job. But he was a nut job whose credit card had been flagged trying to buy bomb-making equipment so neither the mayor nor the police wanted to risk it. They'd brought in Homeland Security and, for good measure, the Avengers.

The NYPD and Homeland Security had been able to nab the guy and his less-than-impressive cache of manure after several hours. Unfortunately for the Avengers, they had spent most of the time in the copter listening to Tony make wisecracks over the comm about the mayor's haircut that they were all pretty sure that the mayor could hear.

Now they had to have a meeting about nothing when all Steve wanted to do was go back to his apartment. He pulled off his gloves and sent a quick text to Darcy.

  
**_ We're back at the Tower. Meeting. Shouldn't be too much longer.  _ **

He had not realized that the others in the room were watching him until he looked up from his phone and saw all their eyes on him.

"What?"

Natasha grinned at him. "You seem to have a gotten the hang of this texting thing. Who's the lucky recipient?" 

"It's one text." Steve purposely did not answer her question because he was fairly certain she already knew the answer.  He was not going to discuss his relationship with Darcy at an Avengers meeting. He was not. 

But he was tired. And his guard was down. Which is why he didn't realize that Tony was behind him.

Tony snatched the phone out of his hand. "Hey!...Stark, I swear to God..."

"The lucky recipient is our own lovely Ms. Lewis, ladies and gentleman. Unfortunately for us, Rogers has not gotten the hang of sexting yet. That would have been way more interesting." Tony drawled, rounding the table, presumably to get out of Steve's reach. "Did all of you know that Cap and Darcy were a thing? Show of hands. Who knew?"

Steve sighed. This was exactly what he had not wanted.

Bruce, Natasha, Clint and Thor raised their hands.

Clint frowned at the  Asgardian. "Bullshit, Thor. You did not know."

"I did indeed. Jane and the Lady Pepper Potts were speaking about it in my presence this very week. I think it is very good news. They are well suited. They are both not easily intimidated. It will serve them well."

Steve couldn't not stop himself from smiling a bit at that. Maybe he wasn't so annoyed with Thor. But the rest of them...

"Could we talk about something else?  Anything else?" 

"Pepper knew and didn't tell me? How is that possible?"

Natasha grabbed the phone out of his hands. "I don't know, Tony. Maybe because you're an asshole? Here you go, Cap."  She slid the phone across the table to Steve. He stowed it in the pouch on his belt right away. 

"Trust, Romanov. It's a thing. Look it up. We're family. We share things like this." Tony countered. "We shouldn't, for example, have to find out by walking in on people trying to  smucker the pucker right in the kitchen." 

Steve winced. Really? 

"I do not follow, Stark," Thor interjected. "What does fruit jam have to do with this discussion?"

Tony pointed at Thor, "Not that kind of smucker, big guy, but good job keeping up."

Bruce sighed. "Tony, let it go. We're all tired. We all just want to get through this meeting and go to sleep. Can we leave Steve's dating life out of it?"

Steve sighed in relief. "Thanks, Doc."

There was silence around the table until Tony turned to Steve again, looking surprised. "Dating? I thought you were just sleeping with her. You're dating? This changes everything!"

Steve glared at Bruce. 

Bruce winced. "Oops?"

The doors to the conference room slid open and Coulson and Fury marched in.

"Thank God," grumbled Steve, Natasha, Bruce and Clint in unison.

_****** _

_ Stark Tower...Captain Rogers' apartment...short time later... _

It was well after four in the morning when Steve finally punched the access code to his apartment and walked inside. He tossed his uniform jacket on the chair and looked down at the sleeping figure on his sofa. 

She had changed into her pajamas and her tablet lay discarded on the sofa next to her, as if she had been using it when she fell asleep. His discarded street clothes from earlier seemed to have been put away. He appreciated that but at some point, he'd need tell her that she didn't have to do things like that. But for now the most important thing was that she was here. Like she said she would be. 

He moved her tablet to the coffee table and brushed the hair from her face before shaking her shoulder gently. "Hey, Darcy. I'm back."

She awoke with a start, then relaxed when she saw him. Her blue eyes were still a bit unfocused as she tried to sit up. "Hey...everything ok? Anybody hurt?" 

"Everything's fine. Not much action. I get the feeling we were only there to cover the mayor's ass if things went sideways." 

"Hmph, I'll remember that on Election Day." 

"Thanks for staying."

"I said I would. You must be exhausted." She reached out sleepily and ran her hand over his cheek. 

Steve shook his head. "Tired, but I've got enough in the tank left to finish that movie with you." Not that they had seen more than twenty minutes of it the first time. But she had to know that it wasn't about the movie.

"You did promise me." She leaned forward to grab the remote from the coffee table. Steve looked down at his uniform. "Should I change?"

Darcy cocked her head to one side and seemed to mull over his attire. He's already removed his jacket so he was only in his boots, pants, and the blue crewneck that he wore underneath the jacket. "Yeah, I think you've been Captain America enough tonight. I'd like Steve back, please."

This woman. "Two minutes." 

While he was in in bedroom stripping off his uniform and replacing them with sweats, Darcy called out to him. "You said the threat was local. Can you tell me what it was or is that classified?" 

"It'll be on the news this morning so it's not going to be classified for long. Some guy threatened to blow up Yankee stadium in the middle of the game tonight. He wasn't anywhere near being able to do it but they wanted us there all the same." He walked back into the living room, still pulling a clean t-shirt over his head.

Darcy laughed. "Since the Yanks were in Seattle tonight, I am guessing he wasn't the sharpest knife in the block?"

Steve wrapped an arm around her waist. "A woman who knows a team's schedule off the top of her head. You've got me thinking about sex again, Ms. Lewis."

"I know many things...but I am certainly not going to complain if they have you thinking about sex. I told you I wasn't a nun."

Steve responded by pulling her back to the couch to settle her next to him. "We have a deal and I am sticking to it. For now."

"Well, look at this way, you're going to get your baseball double feature, even if we don't make it to the second movie." Darcy found the approximate point in the movie when they had stopped paying attention and pressed Play. 

Once again, they tried to watch the movie but this time, fatigue, not passion got the best of them. The next thing Steve knew, he was waking up in his living room. He was laying on the couch, with Darcy curled up on top of him, still asleep. Her hair was fanned out across his chest and the rest of her fit against him so perfectly that he actually started rationalizing about whether less than 24 hours was too early to break their deal. 

He didn't know what time it was and he didn't want to wake her to find out. The light streaming in his windows told him it was daytime. They would both need to get up soon...just not right now. 

As he lay there, two things occurred to him: one, this was probably the longest first date he had ever had and secondly, Bruce would be pleased. They hadn't watched more than half an hour of Field of Dreams.

End Chapter.


	5. Apollo 13

Chapter Five - Apollo 13

_Stark Tower...Common area kitchen...the following Thursday evening... _

"Where did you learn to cook?" Steve asked from the counter stool that was becoming his regular place to sit in the kitchen whenever Darcy was cooking something. He had offered to help but she'd said that he distracted her so he settled for watching.

She was cutting up two large trays of peanut butter swirl brownies that she had made earlier. Working together, they'd finished her inventory in record time, leaving more time for them to prep the snacks for the movie portion of their evening.

"My grandmother.  She watched my younger brother and I after school while our parents were at work. She was usually cooking or baking something during the day. When I was about eight I broke my arm trying to recreate the bicycle scene from E.T..." She looked up. "Have you seen E.T. yet?"

Steve shook his head. He'd seen it on some lists but he hadn't added it to any of his own yet. There were a lot of movies about aliens. It was hard to decide which ones to see.

She waved it off. "Don't worry about it, it's not essential to the story. So, I broke my arm, I'm stuck in the house when all my friends are playing outside. You know me well enough to figure out how crazy that made me. So my grandmother decided that the best way to keep me from driving her insane with my whining was to let me help her. It  kinda grew on me."

She pulled two large platters from the cupboard and began stacking them high with brownie squares. Steve mulled over whether it was worth risking her wrath to steal one. He got his answer when her eyes flicked to his. "Don't even think about it. Wait for everyone else. I'm not even sure I made enough for this crowd."

She'd made two sheet pans worth...but they still probably would not survive the evening.

Steve and Darcy had planned to watch Apollo 13 this evening, and somehow, throughout the week, their viewing party of two had grown to include the entire group, even Pepper.

Steve decided that it must be a really good movie to get that response. Part of him would have preferred simply watching it in his apartment so he could have Darcy all to himself but their track record for watching movies alone together was pretty abysmal. He still had no idea what happened in the last hours of Field of Dreams, despite two attempts. And the Sunday night attempt at Bull Durham...that one was his fault. He had genuinely been interested in the movie and had caught most of the nar rator's introductory "church of baseball" speech...but then the clasp to Darcy's bra had come apart in his hands with far less effort than he had anticipated... Who could blame him for not being much into the movie after that?

While they had not broken their deal to hold off on sex, that didn't mean that had not found ways to please each other. So much in fact that he was fairly certain their deal was not going to last much longer. He got the sense that Darcy felt the same.

"Don't look at me like that, Rogers. It's bad enough that we have to keep our hands to ourselves tonight."

Just the opening he was looking for. He pulled her hands from the platters and wrapped his hands around her waist. "Not yet we don't. There's no one's here."

"Alright, you talked me into it." She rose up on her tip toes and met his lips halfway. She did that a lot and he liked it more every time she did it. He tightened his hold in her so he could lift her off her feet and press her soft body against his while they kissed. Might as well make the most of this while they were alone. 

"Knock it off, you two." Clint's voice broke through the haze. "Stark's on his way down. If he sees you guys like this, he'll terrorize you all night and no one will have any fun."  

So much for that.

"Hey, Butthead!" Darcy said to Clint by way of greeting when Steve had set her back in her feet.

She picked up one of the platters and put it in Steve's arms. "Put this one over on the coffee table." Then she winked at him and stuck one of the smaller brownie pieces in his mouth since his hands were full. He made the best grateful face he could at her given that his mouth was full.

Clint was eying the other platter. "Hey, why are they all peanut butter swirl? I like the plain chocolate ones!"

"Sucks for you, Steve asked for peanut butter swirl."

Steve actually didn't remember doing that but Darcy knew that these were his favorite since he had not been able to eat peanut butter as a kid.

Clint glared at him. "You know this thing between the two of you really isn't working out for  me."

Darcy poked a finger at Clint's chest. "I have no sympathy for you. You're in trouble anyway. I know that you're the Pop Tart thief."

Clint's face gave away nothing.

"How do you figure that?" Steve asked.

"Maintenance found  empty boxes in the ventilation ducts.”

Clint winced slightly, then snatched up the other platter. "Thanks for baking the brownies,  Darce. I'll just put these on the table for you."

Natasha entered as he walked past the door towards the table. "Ooooh, brownies. Hey, why peanut butter? I like the caramel ones."

"Dating the cook gets you special treatment, apparently," Clint muttered, loud enough for them all to hear.

"I would have dated you if it meant you would make the caramel ones," Natasha grumbled. Darcy blew her a noisy kiss and Natasha grabbed a brownie anyway.

Steve went to fridge to get beers for everyone, while Darcy opened wine. He was still rummaging in the fridge for juice for Bruce, who didn't drink, when Tony entered, bellowing, as per usual.

"Lewis! I was in the lab past dinner and Pepper won't give me any food. She said I should  ask you to feed me!"

"Feed you to what? Because I definitely have some ideas."

Pepper entered behind Tony. "Oh, I like that answer, Darcy. He's being very much himself today so something with very large teeth. Good, there's wine."

She took a glass from Darcy while Tony eyed one of the brownie platters. "Peanut butter!? What happened to the M&M ones?"

"Could  you  people stop bitching about the brownies! You know you're all going to eat them anyway!" 

Tony flopped into an armchair and Steve felt guilty enough about the brownie situation that he retrieved a container of leftover fried chicken from the fridge and dropped it into his lap.

Tony pried off the lid excitedly and waved a chicken leg at Steve, "You're much nicer now that you're getting l---"

"Just eat your chicken."

Tony shrugged and passed the container to Bruce, who had walked in a minute earlier. And had apparently worked in the lab past dinner as well.  

Thor and Jane entered the lounge a few minutes later. Or, rather Thor did, with Jane flung over his shoulder.

Thor stopped at the counter, standing so all they could see of the one of the world's leading astrophysicists was her lower half.

"Lightning Sister, please tell Jane that tonight is time for relaxation, not work. She has brought one of her scientific devices with her and refuses to give it to me. You see what I had to do to remove her from the laboratory." Thor waved his free hand in the general direction of Jane's legs.

From behind Thor's enormous back, came Jane's slightly strained voice. "Eric messaged me that he's seeing astronomical irregularities but I haven't gotten the same readings. So I should keep monitoring..."

Darcy ducked around Thor to  to speak to Jane directly. "You totally should keep monitoring but that doesn't mean you can't relax. Give it here, I'll put it on the table where you can hear it if it starts going  kablooey, OK?"

Darcy stretched to place the device in question on the coffee table between the two platters. When Thor turned toward the sofa, Steve noticed that Jane was eating a brownie. Darcy must have slipped it to her in order to get the "science thingy" out of her hands.

"Mmmm, these are good, Darcy, but I kind of prefer the ones you make that have cut up Oreos in them."

Darcy growled. Steve stepped closer, ready to intervene.

"Are Oreos the small black wafers with white substance in between?" Thor asked.

Pepper, who had settled primly on a stool with her wine, answered: "Yes, Thor. Those are Oreos. And the white substance is widely believed to be crack."

"Yes? Then, Lightning Sister, I prefer that kind as well."

"I hate you all with the burning fire of a thousand suns," Darcy spat out. Then added, "Except Steve."

"We know,  which explains the metric shit-ton of peanut butter!" Clint groaned.

"I don't think you guys are being sufficiently thankful to Darcy for all the baking she did." Steve crossed his arms and gave them all his best "Do you really want to mess with Captain America" glare? It was a look he reserved for aliens, politicians and Tony, not necessarily in that order.

But Darcy did not need a defender. "Save the glare for the aliens, Cap. I can handle this bunch of idiots. Alright, everyone, assemble into movie-watching slacker positions. It's time to shoot Tom Hanks into space!"

Whether it was Cap's glare or Darcy's directive, everyone did as they were told.

Watching movies with his teammates was different than with Darcy. For one thing, there was significantly less kissing but he'd known that going in. Secondly, it was louder. There was much more talking and sarcastic commentary, which meant he had to ask Clint to rewind the movie a few times because he had missed a key point. No one really complained, though, since he was the one who had not seen the movie before.

Finally, and well over its running time, Apollo 13 ended - and everyone stopped ragging on him for the unguarded 'ohhh' that escaped him when Tom Hanks said "Houston, we have a problem."  (How was he supposed to know?)  Tony started up another movie, something about the Italian mafia that was  not the Godfather (he did know that much at least) but that Steve had never heard of. He hadn't really been paying attention anyway. Darcy was asleep against his chest and his teammates --- his friends, were relaxed and happy. It was a good night.

Eventually, because they had all done such a good job of assembling into "movie-watching slacker" positions on the couches, arm- chairs and  love-seats, they all fell asleep right where they were.

******

_ Stark Tower...Common area lounge ...the following morning... _

A thumping sound woke Darcy up the next morning. When she opened her eyes and only saw the light blue of what she knew to be Steve's shirt, she considered going back to sleep. Except there was that thumping again, followed by a curse. Definitely not coming from Steve.

She raised her head and spotted Jane alternately reading the screen and banging her "science thingy" on the coffee table. "Stupid piece of  shit...just tell me the distance range..."

"Jane? What's the matter?" Darcy asked. She tried to sit up but then realized that Steve had fallen asleep with both of his leaden  arms locked around her waist and he was still fast asleep. She wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. Not that she really wanted to. She looked around the room. Earth's mightiest heroes. Many of them snored, some of them drooled. At least one did both.

"This thing started pinging this a few minutes ago but the readings are all over the place.  I can't figure out why it’s doing that. I haven’t heard from Eric yet...wait, what's that buzzing?" Jane looked up, trying to follow the sound. It wasn't coming from her thingy.

The buzzing, and the accompanying vibration seemed to originate near Darcy's shoulder and she shifted until she realized it was coming from Steve's phone. His eyes snapped open and he looked down at her. "Wha -?"

"Phone," she told him, digging it out of his shirt pocket.

"Right, phone." He took the device from her. His large hands fumbled with it for a second before he found the right part of the a screen to press to answer the call. Darcy would have found it adorable if she didn't have a bad feeling about getting phone calls at this hour.

"Rogers...no, we're not watching... Hang on..." He turned to Darcy. "Coulson says to turn on the news channel."

Darcy leaned forward and grabbed the remote off the chest of a sleeping Clint....just as the cellphones of the other Avengers began to buzz as well.

By the time Darcy found CNN, they were all starting to stir.

The red  chyron on the screen explained both Coulson's call and Jane's readings.

** ALIEN SHIPS RETURN? VESSELS SPOTTED OVER MIDWEST **

With those phone still pressed to his ear, Steve stared at the screen. "Are those---?"

From the his spot on the floor, Thor confirmed. "Chitauri."

"I thought you said your brother was dead?" Nat asked Thor, watching the screen as she pulled on a shoe.

"He is, but this does not mean the  Chitauri would not come here on their own. We dealt them a heavy blow in the last battle."

“Which means they’re going to be in an even better mood than they were last time.” Tony observed.

"Doing it now, sir..." Steve disconnected the call. "Ten minutes. Copter is on its way. We'll meet up with the carrier  en route."

"En route to where?" Clint asked.

"SHIELD thinks the ships are heading to----"

Jane looked up from her device. "Washington."

Steve nodded in agreement. "Washington."

They scattered.

Darcy didn't have time to protest when Steve grabbed her hand pulled her along with him towards his apartment. She just tried to keep up. And also tried not the think.

They didn't talk much as he suited up, and she tried to stay out of the way, dividing her attention between him and the TV screen. The news coverage seemed to agree that the ships were indeed heading east.

"Darcy?"

She looked away from the screen and saw him in doorway of his bedroom, in uniform, sans cowl, holding his shield.

She actually had to do this. She actually had to say goodbye to him so he could go fight...those things. Again. She could see in his face that he was thinking along the same lines.

"I don't know how long this is going to take."

"It'll take what it takes. I'll be here."

He laid down his shield, wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "Listen to me. There's an evacuation plan for the Tower. JARVIS will give it to you but Pepper has it too. If those things change course, I need you to follow it. To the letter.”

Darcy was prepared to argue. If they changed course, that would mean..."But what about---"

"Darcy, please. Just promise me you'll follow the plan. It's how I'll know where to find you." His voice was more urgent. And it wasn't his Captain America voice. 

"OK. I promise. Be careful."

"Always."

He kissed her, harder and with less finesse than usual.

And then he was gone.

It would be four days before she saw him again.

Four days during which Pepper, Darcy, and Jane basically lived in the common area lounge. They watched CNN, drank enormous quantities of coffee, try to remind each other to eat, and basically tried not to leave each other alone. They dozed at irregular intervals, showered when they remembered to, but always returned to the lounge.

At some point, Darcy was reminded that it was not too long ago that Pepper and Jane were trying to talk her into not giving up on Steve, romantically.

Now here they were. Watching CNN as if their lives depended on it. Which they sort of did.

She did inventory to pass the time. It was largely useless since the team had left the morning after she last did it. Then a few hours later she did it again because she found the counting relaxed her. A day later, she asked Jane and Pepper to eat a bunch of things so the counts would be different when she did it third time. They hid her tablet.

The strange thing about this event was that there wasn't any fighting yet. The ships hadn't attacked. They just hovered. Ominously. For over two days. Early the third day, Pepper heard from  Rhodey that SHIELD had convinced the Joint Chiefs and the Council to let Thor negotiate with the  Chitauri leaders. He would be taking Steve with him. Only Steve. Neither the  Chitauri nor the military would agree on sending anyone else from the team. Especially not Tony.

Late on the third day,  Rhodey reported that Thor and Steve were on one of the largest ships. Darcy spent an hour in the bathroom holding Jane's  hair back as the other woman dry heaved over the toilet.

Finally, early on the fourth day, CNN and MSNBC showed footage of the  Chitauri ships retreating.  Rhodey told Pepper that Thor had convinced the  Chitauri leaders that an attack on Earth would also be an attack on  Asgard and the other realms and would lead to a war that the  Chitauri were not prepared for. He had shown them footage from the battle against the Dark Elves and convinced  t hem that working together against a common enemy was something that nine realms did regularly. It was an epic bluff, one that Thor could not have been sure his father would support...but it worked.

A few hours after  Rhodey's last message, the Copter landed on the roof of Stark Tower. Jane and Darcy waited in the lounge to meet members of the team, but not everyone came. Tony would have gone straight upstairs to Pepper but...

"Where's Steve?" She asked, scanning the faces of the other Avengers. Bruce exchanged a look with Thor.

"He's OK..." Bruce began, "but one of the guards on the ship wasn't happy with the treaty they signed. Took a cheap shot at Steve as they were leaving the ship."

"He is not seriously injured." Thor continued. "But he  said that he wanted to get cleaned and allow his injuries to heal before he saw you again, Sister. He was concerned that his injuries would upset you."

"The fuck!??? Is that man the world's biggest idiot?" She shouted. What the Hell was he thinking? Four days!

"For the record, we told him that was a dumb move. That you'd just be mad," Clint told her but she was already on her way out of the room. When she got her hands in that super soldier, he'd wish he was back in that alien ship.

******

_ Stark Tower...Captain Rogers' apartment...short time later... _

It took Steve longer than usual to get to his apartment from the roof. The scars on his chest from the  Chitauri energy weapons were healing but they still hurt. His head also throbbed. The SHIELD medics on the Copter had offered him painkillers but he knew from experience that his metabolism would push them through before they could do any good. Best to just wait it out.

Right now, he just wanted to get to his own bathroom, clean up and figure out if he was in any condition to see Darcy.

Using the couch for support, he pulled off the jacket to his uniform, and then, remembering the holes and blood stains, laid it over one of his wooden chairs rather than on the couch. He looked down. His blue crewneck had burn holes and blood stains as well. The whole suit was likely toast. Damn  Chitauri guard. More passion for his cause than sense. Steve did not regret killing him, but he regretted that it was necessary. And at least it was over. That his injuries were the worst they all saw from this crisis meant they were all very lucky.

He just wished the pounding in his head would stop so he could think clearly.

Except this pounding wasn't coming from his head.

"Captain Rogers, Ms. Lewis is outside your apartment. It appears she would like to be let inside..."

The pounding grow louder. "...most urgently."

Oh man. Clint was night. Steve hated when that happened. "Let her in, JARVIS." He pushed himself into a standing position as she burst into the room. Looking really, really mad. She was a ball of dark hair, flushed skin and plaid. Wait, plaid?  Was that his shirt?

"Darcy, I ----"

"Have you lost your mind?” she stopped short. “Wow, you look terrible.” She shook herself and kept coming until she was directly in front of him. “What the Hell is the matter with you?”

“There was this guard…”

“I know about that! I mean, why would you think that after I have been waiting for four days to find out if you’re OK, that you should come hide in your apartment before coming to see me??!”

This had seemed like a better idea when it was just in his head. “I didn’t...I thought it would be like last time.  That you would want Steve back, not...this.” He gestured to his torn Captain America costume.

She seemed to relax upon hearing that. Or at least she didn’t look quite as mad. Then she was kissing him so he was a little more sure that she wasn’t mad. He kissed her back...until he remembered that he was still covered in dried blood (only some of it his) and various other things.

“Wait, I’m a mess.”

“Yes, you are. And you’re still an idiot. Listen to me, I wanted Steve back that night because  _Steve_ was my date. But don’t think for a minute that I don’t understand that when you run out to save the world that you’re the one who gets hurt, not the guy in the poster. Don’t hide that from me. Don’t pretend that you're not in pain and don’t worry that I can’t handle it.”

Her tone was so deadly serious that Steve found himself a bit  taken aback. And a little turned on.

“I didn’t think you couldn’t handle it. I just thought...that maybe it was too much...so soon…”

“As opposed to watching CNN for four straight days hoping not to see something explode? I have watched you guys leave before and yes, it’s different now but it’s not like I didn’t know what you did when I moved in here.”

He hadn’t thought of it like that. Four days sitting around not knowing...anything. So, he had screwed up. That much was clear. “I’m sorry, Darcy. I really am.” Next time, she would be his first priority.

She relaxed again. “Good. Apology accepted.” She tugged at the hem of his shirt until it was free of his pants. “Now c’mon. Hit the shower. You seriously look terrible and you smell even worse.”

OK, then. Having someone waiting at home for him was more complicated than he thought.

He may have taxed the energy-making capabilities of Stark Tower with his shower but he didn't care.  The hot water hurt like Hell on his scars but felt good everywhere else.

When he returned to his bedroom, dressed in clean sweatpants and t-shirt, Darcy had located not only a first aid kit but one of the large canvas bags that SHIELD had given him for his soiled and damaged uniforms.

She was wearing latex gloves to put the jacket inside the bag and was looking both a little curious and a little disgusted.

"Do I want to know what the purple stuff on your jacket is?" She asked.

Steve shook his head emphatically. "No, you really don't. Good call on the gloves."

He moved to get the first aid kit but she grabbed it from him. "Not so fast. I'll take care of that. Give me a second. Just sit down...no wait, I won't be able to see... Just lean against the dresser."

He didn't think it would be smart to argue so he leaned back against  the edge of  his dresser,  which eliminated some, but not all of their height difference.

Darcy washed up in the bathroom and came to stand in front of him, wearing a fresh pair of gloves. She pulled up the hem of his shirt. "Don't get excited, soldier. Medicinal purposes only."

But she used the husky voice that he liked so the warning pretty much had the opposite effect. And if her voice didn't already do it, her hands on his chest would have. 

She wiped gently at his scars with antiseptic wipes and put clean bandages on the worst of them.

"You're a fast healer, I'll give you that, but it was still a bad plan to hide from me."

"I know. I guess I over thought that. Went against my first instinct."

Darcy paused over the bandages. "What was your first instinct?"

"To ask you to meet me on the roof."

"Go with the first instinct next time." She smirked and pulled down his shirt. Steve placed his hands on her hips and pulled her closer, hoping for a kiss. Now the he wasn't covered in four days worth of Hell. But she dodged him.  

"Easy. I'm not done. I still have to sort out whatever you did to your head here."

Right. The reason his head hurt. And the reason he had a jagged cut along his hairline.

She set to work on this head using her antiseptic wipes but she didn't wriggle away so he kept his hands on  her  hips, enjoying the feel of her curves through the denim. He enjoyed it so much that he missed something she said.

"How did you manage this anyway?"

"Hmmm, manage what?"

"This cut. And the knot underneath it."

"Oh, that.   Headbutt."

Darcy shook her head. "Isn't that what your shield is for?"

Steve didn't respond because now that she was this close, he could see the dark shadows under her eyes. She looked exhausted.

"You look tired, doll. When was the last time you slept?"

"Hmmmm..." She didn't answer and concentrated on placing butterfly bandages on his cut.

"Darcy." He repeated.

"Pretty sure I napped at some point. Jane and Pepper and I alternated. Not sure who took the last turn. But once you've replaced all your bodily fluids with coffee and Red Bull, it becomes less of an issue."

She was joking but Steve knew there was some truth to what she was saying. And it made his stomach clench a bit. "You should sleep."

"I'll sleep when you sleep."

"OK, then sleep here. With me."

Darcy's eyebrows shot up. "You're in no condition to----"

OK, he hadn't meant for it to sound like that. "No, no. I meant actually sleep. As much as I want the other thing, I'm still too much of a mess to do that right. I'd still like you to stay here tonight with me, though."

Darcy pulled off her gloves, dropped them near the first aid kit and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Since you asked so nicely, I'll stay."

"Good," he leaned down to kiss her again and this time she didn't dodge him. He kissed her forcefully, letting four days of frustration pour out. Any concerns he had that he might scare her with the force of it, drifted away and she moaned and gripped his shoulders and kissed him back just as hard. He pulled her hips against his then ran his hands underneath the back of her - his \- shirt to bring her closer.

She broke the kiss and tapped his arms gently "Be careful...your scars..."

"They're fine... I'm not feeling anything except you right now." That seemed to satisfy her long enough for him to kiss her again, hopefully derailing any further arguments about his scars.  

He could feel that she had some kind of t-shirt underneath the shirt and that was at least one shirt too many. He brought his hands around to front to start working on the buttons.

"What do you think you're doing?" Darcy asked against his lips.

"Taking my shirt back. Did you think I didn't notice?"

"You left it in my apartment." She replied, leaning back to give him room to free the buttons.

"So what, finders keepers?"

"Maybe."

Buttons undone, he pushed the shirt down past her shoulders and pressed his mouth against the bare skin at her neck that it uncovered. "How about what's underneath the shirt?"

"Definitely."

Steve brought his mouth back to hers and had started thinking about ways they  could work around his scars when JARVIS started talking. What the Hell was with this damn AI, anyway?

"Captain Rogers. There is someone at your apartment door."

Steve stopped kissing Darcy but didn't pull away. "Ignore them, JARVIS. Or tell whoever it is that I am not here."

"I'm afraid I can't do that..." JARVIS began, which for some reason made Darcy burst out laughing. "It is Agent Coulson and he is both aware that you are here and capable of overriding my protocols with regards to the door."

Crap. "What the Hell does he want?" Steve asked no one in particular. "Tell him to give me a minute, OK, JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir."

He kissed her quickly one more time before pulling up her shirt again. "Let's see what he wants. Hopefully, it'll be quick."

"Umm, Steve? Do you want me to stay in here?"

"What, why?"

"When Coulson sees me here, he's going to assume, correctly, that you and I are…doing this. Is that something you're ready for SHIELD to know?"

They spent so much time in the  Tower, and  they were so used to the rest of the team knowing about their relationship that Steve actually had not thought about how SHIELD or anyone else outside their circle would react.

In that instant, Steve decided the  the didn't care how SHIELD reacted. Darcy was his girlfriend. At least, he thought that's what the current term was. He'd have to confirm that later.

He shook his head and grabbed her hand. "No hiding, right? Just like you said."

Darcy looked skeptical. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. They'll either find out now or after the next mission when you meet me on the roof. Do me a favor though, and button up that shirt? Finders keepers, remember?" She rolled her eyes but didn’t argue about the buttons. 

"Captain Rogers----" JARVIS said, by way of reminding him of the visitor.

"I'm going, I'm going..."

Steve didn't bother to hide his annoyance at Coulson when he opened his apartment door a minute later. "I hope this is urgent, Agent Coulson. I was under the impression that we had earned some downtime."

Coulson, to his credit, at least looked apologetic as he entered, tapping the SHIELD tablet he carried. "You have, Captain, but this is important. Director Fury has a meeting in one hour ---"

Steve saw the exact moment Coulson's usual poker face slipped and he lost his train of thought. It was, not coincidentally, the moment the agent spotted Darcy standing the doorway of his bedroom, buttoning his shirt.

"Ms. Lewis."

"Agent iPod Thief, nice to see you again," Darcy replied with a nod. She crossed her arms and leaned against the  doorjam.

"Coulson."

"I know that. My name for you is more fun. And accurate."

Coulson turned back to Steve, as if expecting an explanation. Steve offered none. If Darcy standing in his bedroom door wearing his shirt wasn't clear enough, Coulson should probably find another line of work.

"You said it was urgent?" Steve pressed.

"Right, Director Fury has a meeting with the council in an hour and we anticipate that your account of the scuffle at the end is going to receive some particular scrutiny. Especially since it happened after the treaty---" his eyes darted to Darcy.

She raised her eyebrows at him. "Problem?"

Coulson gave her a tense smile. "Your exact security clearance level escapes me right now, Ms. Lewis. Could you remind me?"

"Given that I live in the same building as your top response team, pretty darn high. But if it makes you feel better, I can put in my earbuds and oh, wait..."

Steve decided it wasn't wrong that he was getting turned on again.

He pulled  the tablet from Coulson's hands. "So you need me to read over my statement and make sure that there's nothing there that will cause trouble?"

"Yes, essentially."

Darcy pushed herself off the door-jam. "I can't handle anymore coffee. I'm going to make hot chocolate." She announced, heading to the kitchen.

Steve looked up from the tablet. "There may not be any milk."

She winked at him, no doubt remembering their conversation. "Because of the whole alien invasion? I got it covered. I brought some in earlier from the other kitchen."

Steve knew he was smiling as he went back to reviewing the text on the tablet screen. And he also knew that Coulson was watching him. He didn't care. Having someone, no, having  _Darcy_ waiting at home for him was complicated but worth it. 

He finished reviewing his statement and made a few minor edits, before handing the tablet back to Coulson. “Pretty much as I had it the first time. Too bad you had to come all the way out here just for that. If the council still has issues with that, blame it on my Brooklyn accent.” 

He heard Darcy snort from the kitchen.

Coulson gave one long look towards the kitchen before nodding at him. “I’ll be sure to pass along that recommendation to Director Fury. Sorry to have bothered you but you know how these things need to be done. There are procedures to follow ”

Steve  did know that. The problem was that  the  procedures  changed all the time. 

“Good night, Captain.”

Coulson let himself out and Steve stared at the door for a while after he left.

Darcy appeared a few minutes later, carrying two mugs. She saw the look on his face.

“You’ve got a face. What’s the matter? Did Coulson say something?”

“Yeah. And I’ve got a feeling that’s not the only thing he’s going to say.”

End Chapter.


	6. Stark TV

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> God help him, Steve thought, he was taking advice on women from Tony Stark.

Chapter Six - Stark TV

_SHIELD NY Headquarters....the following morning..._

There were some days that Darcy Lewis was convinced that the universe had decided to mess with her. And only her. Perhaps it was paranoia but her given that her life included hot Norse gods falling out of the sky and giant green rage monsters, who was going to tell her that being paranoid was a bad thing? And any day in which she was required to cut short a night spent in Steve Rogers' bed (albeit a clothed one, stupid scars) to help Jane and Eric make some kind of dumb last-minute presentation at SHIELD was destined to be one of those days.

Between this and the Chitauri invasion, she was now convinced that when a phone rang before 7am, it was never good news.

First of all, she had to wear grown-up clothes - toe-pinching high heels and an honest-to-goodness skirt suit - paired with a blouse that she probably should have given back to Nat last week. Jane had specifically warned her not to wear jeans, which, in all honesty, Darcy had been considering. It was a presentation about creating an early warning system for future alien invasions, who was going to be looking at her?

Secondly, so far her contribution consisted of lugging all the heavy crap: the laptop, Eric's notes, which seemed to be stored in binders that were frigging lead-lined, and a bunch of rolled up charts. Like actual paper charts. They lived in Stark Tower, for God's sake, why were they still using paper?

Thankfully, some good-hearted SHIELD agent had helped her pile it all onto a wheeled cart when they arrived so all Darcy had to do was push it as she tried to keep up with Eric and Jane as the made their way down world's longest hallway to whatever conference room they were going to. Did she mention the toe-pinching shoes? Darcy really hoped that SHIELD did not cheap out on the bagels for this meeting.

That's when it all changed. An agent appeared out of nowhere and began pushing the cart away from her. She felt a firm hand on her elbow and it steered her down a completely different hallway. She immediately regretted the fact that security had taken her taser. She looked the her right and realized that the firm arm was attached to none other than Agent iPod Thief himself.

"You've got to be kidding me!" She exclaimed. "Where are you taking me, Secret Agent iPod Thief?"

"It's Coulson and we have a different meeting to attend, Ms. Lewis." Coulson told her in that annoying even tone of his.

"Look, if you don't like me calling you a thief, maybe you shouldn't steal people's stuff."

He stopped in front of an unmarked door that had one of those frosted windows that prevented you from seeing inside. "Make all the smart remarks you want, Ms. Lewis. but you and I both know what this is about." Coulson pushed open the door. A sour-faced woman in with a clipboard sat waiting at a table.

Darcy blew out a breath. She did know. And it sucked.

*****

_Stark Tower...Common area kitchen...a short time later.._

Steve shifted things around in the fridge hoping to find some leftover brownies. Unfortunately, and despite all the griping, his teammates had eaten every single one. He settled for an apple instead. While he was in there, he grabbed bread, turkey and cheese as well since he'd gone to the gym after Darcy left and a single apple was not enough post-workout food for someone with his metabolism.

He had tried not to be too upset when Jane called Darcy's phone that morning to tell her about the last minute thing at SHIELD. She had a job to do, just like he did. He just hoped they could pick up where they left off when she got back. His scars were mostly healed, after all.

Arms full, Steve closed the fridge door with his elbow, then jumped back when Tony appeared where the door had been.

"Jeez, Tony, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

Tony was unapologetic, as usual. "Can't be helped. We need to talk about your girlfriend, Cap."

Steve dumped his fridge haul on the counter with a sigh. The whole way home from the helicarrier, Tony had alternated between badgering him for (mostly inappropriate) details about Darcy and pleading with him to use his "influence" to get her to cook Tony's favorite foods.

"No, I won't give you one of her bras for scientific research. Stop asking that one, _seriously_! And no, I won't ask her to make you cake. Ask her yourself when she gets back, she's at SHIELD making some presentation with Jane and Dr. Selvig."

"No, she's not."

Steve stilled and looked up at Tony. "What do you mean, 'no, she's not'?" 

"Yes, she's at SHIELD. No, she is not in a meeting with Jane and Selvig. Jane called Pepper, she said Coulson pulled Darcy out of their meeting before it even started."

"How long ago was this? Where is she now?" Dammit, He should have known that Coulson was up to something.

"Hold up. Slow your roll, soldier. She's fine. They've got her in another conference room at SHIELD with one of their psycho-babblers. She's trying to get under Darcy's skin but your girl's talking circles around her so far."

"Psycho-babblers? Speak English, Tony! And how do you know this, anyway?"

Tony opened the tablet that Steve had not noticed he was holding before, and propped it on the counter. The screen showed a bird's eye view of what Steve knew from experience was one of the depressing conference rooms at SHIELD's NY headquarters. He could see Darcy's familiar figure seated at a table, across from an older woman he did not recognize.

"I call it Stark TV. We're working on a logo."

"You bugged SHIELD?" Tony shot him a look that conveyed 'Of course I did and I have no time for such details' more clearly than if he had printed it on a sign.

"Who's that?" Steve pointed to the older woman on the screen.

"One of SHIELD's scary legion of psychologists. Probably the head babbler. She did a work-up on me that they used to disqualify me from the Avengers Initiative...so clearly she knows her stuff."

"What does she want with Darcy?"

"It's not that much of a stretch to figure that SHIELD sussed out where Darcy's been sleeping lately and wants to know more about what makes your little lab rat tick."

Steve felt his cheeks grow hot at Tony's words, equal parts embarrassment and anger. "My relationship with Darcy has nothing to do with SHIELD!"

"Not according to them. For one thing, Darcy works for them. She may be Foster's lab assistant but they're both funded at the whim of the Big Pirate Man. Secondly, it's _you_. They've done everything but tattoo 'property of SHIELD' on your ass since you woke up. And that's probably only because you run too fast. Anything that affects El Capitan, SHIELD will want to know about. Every possible detail."

Steve turned back to the screen. "I need to get her out of there."

Tony held up a hand. "Just listen for two minutes, then you can go. Trust me on this."

Steve held his breath. Trust Tony? On this? But he remembered that Tony was a teammate who had saved his life more times than he could count. Moreover, without Tony, he wouldn't know any of this. "Two minutes."

Tony increased the volume so they could hear the conversation coming from the room more clearly.

_"...since you won't answer that, let's try this one again: How would you define your relationship with Steve Rogers?"_

_"My relationship with Steve Rogers is a connection, association, or involvement."_

_"You just gave me the Webster's entry for 'relationship' again."_

_"If you don't want that, stop asking me to define things. I kicked ass on my verbal SATs, by the way, but that's probably in your file too."_

_"That is not really relevant. And it is in the file, actually."_

_"Well, didn't I?"_

_"Yes, you did quite well. Now, back to the questions, would you describe your relationship with Captain Steve Rogers as romantic?”_

_"My relationship with Captain Steve Rogers does not involve orchestral and/or piano music, literature, or art composed primarily in the 19th Century that contrasts with the classical style.”_

The doctor did not speak. Only stared.

_"What? I naturally assumed you mean Romantic with a capital R. I did go to college after I aced my SATs, you know.”_

_"Yes, we are aware. Let us move on, describe to me your most frequent recurring dream."_

_"My most frequent recurring dream features me, in an ugly room, being asked dumb questions by a woman who has made questionable career choices. What do you think it means?"_

_"Please describe the nature of your work with Drs. Banner and Foster."_

_"Dr. Foster and Dr. Banner do things. I am nearby."_

There was an audible sigh. 

_"Please describe your relationship with Tony Stark."_

_"My relationship with Tony Stark is a connection, association, or involvement."_

_"Ah ha! I said describe, not define. You can't answer it that way!"_

At the slightly manic sound of triumph in the psychologist's voice, Steve shot Tony a questioning look.

"Darcy's pulled that Webster's thing a few times since they started. Every time the doc asks her about one of us. I think the psycho-babbler is getting punchy over it."

"How long have they been doing this?" Steve asked.

Tony shrugged. "They'd been at it an hour before Pepper even got Jane's message."

_"My relationship with Tony Stark is a technicolor connection, association, or involvement. In surround sound."_

Steve and Tony looked at each other for a beat. "She's not wrong," they finally said in unison.

Tony rubbed at his goatee. "So...still think she needs a rescue?"

Steve tilted his head as he looked at the screen, then at Tony. "Not really...but she might not mind some back-up."

Tony pointed a finger at him. "Now you're talking."

God help him, Steve thought, he was taking advice on women from Tony Stark.

*****

_SHIELD NY Headquarters....short time later..._

Darcy chewed on her lower lip as the psychologist argued with Agent Coulson. God, she was hungry. And she was getting tired of coming up with non-answers for this poor excuse for an interrogator. Her questions were so lame and there was nothing scary about her. Natasha was more intimidating on family dinner nights when she asked someone the pass the salt.

Darcy just wanted to go home, get out of these shoes and order a pizza. At some point, a barely dressed super soldier should factor into the evening...but frankly, at this moment, she was more hungry than horny.

"Try _again_ , Dr. Goodman." Agent Coulson commanded with all the emotion of a leather wingtip.

"I have been trying for the past three and half hours. She's not going to answer these questions. She's either been trained not to answer them or she has some ingrained aversion to authority that is so deeply rooted, I'm not going to get around it in an environment like this. Frankly, the last time I saw something like this was when you forced me to interrogate ---" She stopped speaking and shot a look at Darcy.

Darcy knew what she was going to say and she flashed a wide grin. "My relationship with Tony Stark is a technicolor connection, association, or involvement. In surround sound," she repeated, enjoying the way the psychologist's left eye twitched as she recited the words again.

"Please make her stop saying that," Dr. Goodman muttered to Coulson.

Coulson turned to Darcy. "I thought I made it clear that you were to cooperate with Dr. Goodman."

"I have. I have provided a response to every single question she asked. It's really not my problem if she doesn't like the responses. You can't please everyone."

Dr. Goodman was gathering up her clipboard and glasses. "You gave me a two-week vacation after I interrogated Mr. Stark. I'll expect the same for this. Commencing immediately. Good day, Agent Coulson. Ms. Lewis, I expect to be reading about you in the _Journal of Abnormal Psychology_ in ten years."

Darcy rose to her feet and waved at the departing woman. "Five if they have a swimsuit issue!" She called after her through the open door. When Coulson gave her one of his bland stares, Darcy added, "What? Kate Upton has nothing on these." She jerked a thumb towards her cleavage.

"I actually do know who Kate Upton is and I'd have to agree," Steve said, walking through the open door.

Darcy looked at him in surprise. How did he even know to come here? "Hey, what are you doing here?" She gave him a pointed look that she hoped asked the other question on her mind.

He put a hand at her waist. "I thought we could go to lunch if you're all through here." When he leaned in to kiss her cheek, he whispered, "Stark bug" into her ear, which after a second, she realized answered her question. He added, "Play along" before giving her waist a squeeze and pulling away.

Steve nodded at Coulson, his laid-back demeanor betraying nothing, and the Captain America face in place. "Agent Coulson, change of venue for the meeting?"

Coulson had gone from looking bland to unnerved. "Excuse me?"

"It's just that Dr. Foster and Dr. Selvig were down the hall making their presentation but that ended, oh, about two hours ago. And Darcy's in here with you and that other woman. Change of plans?"

"We...uh...had some other questions for Ms. Lewis."

"Questions. Oh, I see." Steve replied. Coulson seemed to brace himself for whatever was going to come next. Instead, Steve looked at Darcy and grabbed her hand. "So, lunch? You hungry?" 

"Starved." Although truth be told, the longer he kept this up, the needle was moving back from hungry towards horny. 

He nodded at her. "We just have one stop to make first. Agent Coulson, feel free to follow. This stop involves you as well." And for the second time that day, Darcy found herself being led along a hallway, though this time she was filled with anticipation, not dread. She spared a look behind her and saw Coulson following them, his expression wary. Things were looking up already.

They arrived at a large glass office at the other end of the floor. Even if 'Nicholas J. Fury, Director' was not stenciled on the window, the fact that it was a shrine of chrome, steel and glass with black accents would have given it away. The boss always had the ego room.

Steve ignored the protests of Fury's confused assistant and pushed open the door, pulling Darcy along with him. Coulson followed. Fury, who had been on the phone while seated at his large glass desk, replaced the handset abruptly when they entered. "Can I help you, Captain Rogers?" He said, in that distinctive Fury tone in which the words came out sounding like the order to invade a small to medium-sized country.

"Yes, actually you can, Director Fury." Steve led Darcy to the far side of the room and whispered "Stay back," to her before turning back towards Fury.

"Agent Coulson," Fury began. "Can one of you please enlighten---"

His words were cut off when Steve grabbed a bronze bust off of a shelf, spun it in his hands and drove it into the glass top of Fury's desk. The tempered glass shattered into countless pieces. Fury shot to his feet, watching the contents of his desk fall to the floor in a cloud of glass chips and dust. Though she was well out of range of the glass, Darcy stepped back involuntarily. Even Coulson reacted, taking one step towards the other two men as if he could do something to stop the damage.

"Now that I have your attention..." Steve told Fury.

A young SHIELD agent appeared in the doorway, his hand on his holster. Steve shot him an annoyed look. "You see that ending well, son?"

The agent backed out the room as quickly as he had come.

"As I was saying, the next time you want to test me, Director, you come right to me. You leave Darcy and everyone else out of it."

"Captain Rogers, we have procedures---" Fury tried again, but Steve cut him off.

"That do not have anything to do with this. Now Darcy can handle any one of those psychologists you throw at her but for every one you do, you're going to need another desk so I'd suggest you just save everyone the time and clean-up. SHIELD doesn't own her, and contrary to your assumption, it does not own me. I own my life out of the suit, same as you own yours. Are we clear?"

"Captain America is a---" Fury started again, his voice tired. Darcy suspected that deep down, he already knew he had lost.

"Captain America..." Steve mimicked Fury's tone and slow cadence they way he had done for Darcy at dinner that night. Though this time there was steel, not humor in his voice. "...is a name on a poster. A suit. A character in a comic book. You need it more than I do, and you know it."

Darcy swallowed hard and looked at Coulson...and was surprised to see that the agent was watching her instead of Steve or Fury. She fought to keep her face neutral under his gaze.

"Are we clear?" Steve repeated.

Fury nodded. "We're clear, Captain. I don't think we'll have a need to have this conversation again." 

"Good, send Stark the bill for the desk." He grabbed Darcy’s hand and led her past the small crowd of curious agents that had gathered outside Fury's office.

Neither of them said anything until they were in the elevator. Darcy wanted to wrap her arms around Steve to calm him (and herself) down but she didn't want to give SHIELD's cameras another show so she settled for squeezing his hand tightly.

"Did you do that for me?" She asked cautiously. She was not sure could handle that kind of responsibility if he had.

"A little...but it was mostly for me."

"Why?"

"Because some days...it actually does feel like I have 'Property of SHIELD' tattooed on my ass."

Darcy shot him a look. "Been talking to Tony?" 

"Yeah...but he was right."

"I know, still annoying when that happens, though. What does he want?"

Steve actually smiled before he answered. "Cake."

"Cake? That's it?"

"No, but all he gets is cake."

End chapter.


	7. Taking Stock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are you kidding? I am pretty sure that our friends just threw us a ‘go have sex’ party!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is really long. You will see why soon. (Be gentle with me. Haven’t done this kind of writing in a while.)

Chapter Seven – Taking Stock

_Stark Tower…common area kitchen/lounge…later that day…_

Their mistake, Steve later decided, was calling Jane. Darcy had wanted to make sure Jane knew they were OK before they headed back to Tower on his bike. Darcy had joked to her friend that they were both fine, just hungry and Jane had offered to order them a pizza. Which had sounded like a great idea. It wasn’t until they actually got back to the Tower that they remembered you didn’t ‘just order a pizza’ in Stark Tower.

From what they pieced together, the following occurred: Thor overheard Jane offering to order them a pizza. He then informed Jane that he “also very much enjoyed pizza.” While she was trying to calculate how much more pizza to order to feed Thor, Bruce wandered by and reminded Jane that they had not actually celebrated their nearly bloodless defeat of the Chitauri as a team and maybe they should see what the others were doing?

At that point, Clint, who had been monitoring the situation from parts unknown (but nearby), texted Bruce to say that he was free but was not in the mood for pizza, perhaps they could order something else? Pepper replied to Jane’s email saying that she and Tony were also free and included two additional food preferences. Nat emailed a single word to Bruce: “Ramen.” And so it went…

Thus when Darcy and Steve arrived back at the Tower, instead of finding a couple of pizzas and a few beers that they could eat in Steve’s apartment quietly…they found six different kinds of takeout spread out over every horizontal surface in the common kitchen, one of Tony’s latest robot creations serving drinks, and, of course, the entire team. Plus Pepper, Jane and Eric Selvig.

So much for their quiet evening.

But Steve found he wasn’t that upset. He did really want to be alone with Darcy – especially after sleeping next to her the night before and witnessing the show she had inadvertently put on getting onto his bike in that tight skirt of hers – but this was a relief in its own way. After what he had done in Fury’s office that afternoon, any of his teammates could have easily been angry or disappointed with him. They seemed anything but. They were, by and large, amused and supportive…but mostly amused. Tony had apparently recorded the scene from “Stark TV” and was playing it in a loop on the lounge televisions. He must have done some editing because sometimes the clip played in reverse and the shattered desk re-formed, only to shatter again. There was also music added.

Steve gestured to the television with his half empty glass. “How much footage have you collected from SHIELD, anyway?” He asked Tony.

After eating, the group had broken up into smaller pockets around the lounge. Tony was now seated on one of the love-seats across from him, admiring his handwork on the television. “Few hundred hours. I only record a few of the top level areas. JARVIS scans the footage for anything important and deletes the rest.”

Steve was not sure how he felt about this. He was angry at SHIELD for invading his privacy in regards to his relationship with Darcy, but this felt just as bad. “What exactly are you looking for?”

Tony shrugged as he rose to refill his drink. “It’s kinda like porn, I’ll know it when I see it.”

Clint snickered from one of the other couches. When Tony left, he leaned forward. “Try not to sweat it too much, Cap. There’s nothing wrong with a little checks and balances in the scheme of things. And SHIELD does its fair share of checking up on people, most of whom don’t even know it.”

Steve nodded. He figured that was true. “I get that part, if you’re looking for something. But Tony’s not even sure what he intends to find. He ends up with a pretty big net that way.”

"It’s a brave new world. Don’t be too hard on Stark, though. It’s kind of had to conform to conventional definitions of privacy when you’ve never had a lick of it yourself.” Steve thought about that. Though about what it must have been like growing up being named Stark. He looked over towards the counter where Tony had just inserted himself into a lively discussion between Bruce, Eric and Darcy.

What was normal for Tony Stark? Come to think of it, what was normal for any of them?

Tony moved something on the counter and they all started yelling at him. Tony only laughed and moved on to the dining table where, Jane, Thor, Pepper, and Natasha were still seated. He slid into a seat next to Pepper and within minutes was absorbed in that conversation as well.

 _This_ , Steve thought. _This_ was normal. Or, at least, it was as normal as it got for them.

Darcy dropped onto the sofa next to him, television remote in hand. She was still dressed in her silky blouse and skirt from earlier in the day but she had taken down her hair from its fancy knot (since she claimed the motorcycle helmet had wrecked it anyway) and kicked off her shoes. Steve liked when she looked like this. Slightly rumpled. Although he liked it best when he was the one responsible for it.

Darcy used the remote to turn off the video loop. “As hot as this is, it kind of loses its impact after 900 times.”

"Thanks.”

To Clint, she called out, “Heads up, Butthead,” and pitched the remote control to him. He caught it easily and switched the channel to one of the ones that played music.

“What was commotion over there?” Steve asked, referring to all the yelling at Tony that had happened a few minutes earlier.

“Eric was trying to explain his alien invasion early warning system to me and Bruce. I only understood about half of it, to be honest, and that was only because he made the model out of olives, cheese, and crackers.”

“So what happened?”

"Tony ate the relay transmitters.”

“Of course he did.”

Darcy laid her head on his shoulder. “He was mentioning something about Inception and another drinking game. Think he’s trying to talk Thor into it now.”

Steve winced. Thor could be talked into just about anything if you said it was a drinking game. It seemed to be one of his favorite parts of “Midgardian” culture.

"I think that's our cue.” He stood up, helped Darcy to her feet and then led her toward the door.

As they passed, Clint nudged him in the ribs with his beer bottle. “Easy on the shirt, Cap. Pretty sure it’s Nat’s.” Before he could respond, Darcy kicked Clint’s leg with her foot.

“Ouch!” Hard, apparently.

"if I were you, I would be more worried about what booby traps I left for you in the ducts above our apartments.” Darcy warned him.

A few minutes later, in the elevator, Steve stopped kissing Darcy long enough to ask, “Did you really booby trap the ducts above our apartments?”

“No,” she admitted. “But now I’m really wishing that I had.”

Steve rubbed her back through the silky blouse. “What do you think are the chances that they don’t know why we left?”

"Are you kidding? I am pretty sure that our friends just threw us a ‘go have sex’ party!”

Steve groaned against her neck.

*****

_Stark Tower…Captain Rogers’ apartment…short time later…_

Darcy noted that Steve got over his embarrassment about the ‘go have sex‘ party pretty quick. As in, ‘in the time it took for them to get to his couch’ quick. Not that she was complaining. She had been waiting all day for some quality couch time with her…boyfriend? Is that what he was? She didn’t know how he would feel about that term. She should ask him…later.

Right then, however, he was too distracted by the feat of modern engineering that was the front-clasp push-up bra. Steve had removed the aforementioned blouse and her skirt without incident, then managed to tear her stockings when helping her out of those. At first she was confused about how apologetic he had been about that, but then she remembered that the last time he had done this, women’s stockings had been a luxury item. She’d reassured him with a kiss and a (truthful) joke that she couldn’t stand the damn things anyway.

He stroked the straps of the lingerie equivalent of the Brooklyn Bridge looking a little dazed. Darcy decided that the only upside to being hauled down to SHIELD headquarters at an unholy hour of the morning in grown-up clothes was that she had needed to wear grown-up underwear.

"You have more like this? If not, I’ll buy you some.”

She laughed and rubbed his bare back, “Let’s finish this first, talk shopping later?”

“Right.” And he had the clasp open so fast, Darcy wasn’t entirely sure he had used his hands. Then his mouth closed over one breast and she was entirely sure that she didn’t care. They had gotten to this point together before, but always with the understanding that they would stop before things went too far. Tonight was different.

Steve’s mouth was roaming again, up from her breast, across her collarbone, up to the spots on the side of her neck that made her shiver, no matter how warm it was (and it was really warm in here surrounded by him).

He said something but she was too wound up to catch it.

“What did you say?” She whispered, then realized that whatever he had asked likely had something to do with the fact that he had fingers hooked around the waist of her panties. They were no feat of engineering but they were black and lacy and fairly pretty in their own right. Plus they matched the Brooklyn Bridge.

"Can I?”

"You not only can, you’d _better_.”

He laughed against her lips, then changed the angle of his mouth on hers so he could kiss her more deeply while he worked the tips of his fingers inside of her. After a few minutes of light teasing, he changed the angle of his fingers, causing Darcy to gasp against his mouth.

“OK?” He asked. She nodded. “Tell me what works for you.” His mouth was back at her ear.

She reached down to guide his hand but he batted it away. “No, _tell_ me.”

Darcy shifted under him, gripping at his forearms to keep him close. “Like that…just more…bend your fingers… Like that….God…”

She bucked up against him when his fingers slipped deeper but he wrapped his free arm around her back to hold her still. “Steve….use your thumb like that again…please…faster…”

"OK?”

God, was he kidding? She could barely breathe. She could already feel an orgasm starting to building and he was moving faster, impossibly faster until she felt she was going to snap into pieces any second. Darcy arched her back, titling her head back against the sofa. Eyes closed, she felt, rather than saw, Steve retrace his steps down her neck and closed his mouth over her breast again. That did it, pushed her right over the edge. She shattered just like the desk, clinging to him until she felt whole again. Warm and boneless but whole.

When she opened her eyes, he was staring at her. “You’re gorgeous. I love watching you like this.” 

"And you take direction really, really well. I feel like I should salute something in gratitude.”

Steve’s shoulders shook with barely restrained laughter. “You’ve got to stop joking, Darcy. I’m barely hanging on as it is.”

Oh shit. “Jeez, I’m so sorry. We’ll take care of you now.” Darcy reached down to undo his belt but managed to brush against the front of his jeans in the process. His hissed and jerked up.

"Sorry!” She apologized again and tried to pull his belt from the loops but he stilled her hands.

“Wait…the bedroom.”

"Are you sure?” The situation felt pretty urgent to her.

"Yeah, we need way more room than this couch has, plus the condoms are in there.” Right, condoms. Thank goodness one of them was thinking. Darcy was on birth control, but she hadn’t been on it for very long, so they’d agreed to stick with condoms for a while.

Steve scooped her up and carried her into his bedroom, her arms draped around his neck and her legs secured around his waist. The ease with which he did it was great for her vanity, and she pushed the whole super soldier thing conveniently out of her mind for the moment. Somewhere between the living room and the bedroom, he started kissing her again so Darcy lost track of what was happening until she found herself on his bed. They exchanged a few more clumsy kisses as they tried to get rid of their remaining clothing without separating from each other. It was tricky, but they managed it without major injuries.

Darcy grabbed a condom off the nightstand and tore it open. “Want me to put this on…” His reaction was almost comical in its certainty.

“God, no! That’s a terrible idea! In fact…” He pulled the packet from her hand and pulled her other hand from his waist, raising them both to chest level. “You need to keep both hands where I can see them, or this is going to be over real fast.”

Darcy stifled a giggle. Then remembered his earlier words. “Hey, why are you allowed to make joked and I’m not?”

Steve had a look of deep concentration on his face. “I’m just making jokes because I’m nervous, doll.”

"What makes you think I’m not?” He kissed her first that, two quick, hard kisses that had her laughing again…until he slid inside her and her laughter became a moan. He pulled her thigh around his hip and slid deeper and she tensed. She was no blushing virgin but it had been a while. It didn’t hurt, it was just…tight.

"This OK?” He kept himself still over her.

She nodded against his neck. “Yeah, just don’t move for a sec… It’s been a while.”

Steve huffed. “Pretty sure I win on that score.” She laughed and, oddly enough, it helped. Her body had relaxed enough that the tightness was more pleasure by then so she pumped her hips against his to get him moving. He took the hint, moving tentatively, then more assuredly when she matched his pace. She certainly had not said anything.

Darcy liked to think of herself as someone capable of sexy banter, even dirty talk in bed but not this time. Maybe because it was their first time or maybe because it was just him, she wouldn’t know until later. But right now, it was just too much, there was so much of him, and he was everywhere, surrounding her, inside her…she just couldn’t form words. She couldn’t tell him what to do. All she could do was touch him, grab at his back, at his hips, everywhere she could reach.

He was apparently in slightly better shape. He could form words, but not sentences. “God…good….Darcy…so good…”

Darcy grabbed the back of his neck to meet his slightly dazed gaze and kissed him clumsily in agreement. It was as close as she could come to speaking at that point. She tightened her thighs around his hips, then whimpered when the shift meant he was creating the absolute perfect level of friction with each stroke. She propped herself up on her elbows to keep the angle just right. It was too good to lose…

He was moving faster by then and he was stroking his free hand up and down her body, from her breasts, down her torso, to her hips. A few more thrusts and she was there. Different than the earlier one, everything felt sharper, the white lights behind her eyelids seemed brighter, the waves of pleasure lasted longer. Darcy lost any hope of keeping rhythm with him through the last of her trembling and just gripped his back until she felt him tense around her and inside her one more time before a final shudder. Then she was enjoying the feel of his weight pressing her into the mattress because he was no longer bracing himself on his arms. His chest was flush against hers and it felt so good, in addition to all the other sensations still pulsing through her, she wished the could stay that way a little longer. But reality intruded.

Still breathing hard, Steve lifted himself off of her enough to withdraw and take care of the condom. Darcy shifted her legs, wincing a bit at the slight soreness that was already there and she rolled her head to the side to watch him. She snorted when she realized that the Man With a Plan had a wastebasket just a few feet from his bed, next to the nightstand. Handy. She’d have to remember that. He climbed back into the bed, looking sweaty but very relaxed.

“Hey, feel OK?”

"More than OK. You?”

"I’ll come up with a word to describe how I feel. Just give me a minute to get my brain working again.” As he spoke, he pulled her body close to his until they were basically a tangle of limbs.

“Imagine how much better that is going to be when we’re both not so nervous.”

"I’m having a hard time imagining how that could be better.” 

"So many points for that line.” She adjusted their position until she was lying fully on top of him, her breasts pillowed against his chest. His hands immediately went to hips to keep her in place. “In fact, you should know that I’m taking that line as a challenge….after we rest for a bit, of course.”

Steve took a deep, slightly shaky breath. “Turns out, I lied. I’m actually not having trouble imagining it at all. But I do agree on the resting.”

When she laid her head down on his shoulder again, he reached up to tangle his hand in her hair.

Darcy was just laying there, enjoying the nakedness combined with the closeness, and maybe dozing lightly, when Steve spoke again. She missed some of it.

“What was that?”

"I was just saying, I’m not sure what to call you.”

"Darcy works. Ms. Lewis seems pretty formal, even for you, given the amount of nakedness I see in our future.”

He pinched her. “Ow.”

He pinched her a second time. “Ow, again! What was the extra one for?!”

"My hand was still there and it was fun.”

"Wow, I corrupted you really fast.”

Steve seemed unconcerned by this. “Is girlfriend the right term? Or do people say something else now? I’ve been meaning to ask.”

Darcy lifted her head to meet his gaze. “People say lots of different things now…” She thought about listing some of the raunchier ones, then thought better of it. There was no way she could tease him when he was looking at her like that. “…but I like girlfriend. Let’s go with that.”

End chapter.


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue

_Stark Tower…common area kitchen…a few days later…_

Not surprisingly, Darcy had said she would be in the big kitchen when his finished with his call. She was at the counter working alone. Nat and Bruce were there too but they were on the couch watching…one of those Star Trek things. Steve didn’t know which one but he recognized the costumes and the one guy with the pointy ears.

“Hey, Cap!” Nat called out. “How it go?”

Steve shrugged. He’d needed to do a phone interview with a reporter about the Chitauri invasion. None of the team members had really wanted to do any press but SHIELD had been overwhelmed by requests. So, perhaps due to some lingering guilt about Fury’s desk, Steve had agreed…as long as there we no cameras and he could approve the questions in advance. They settled on a phone interview with NPR. “The reporter didn’t stay on script,” he told Nat and Bruce.

"They never do.” Bruce told him. “How far off script?”

“Three questions.” Personal questions, which he had specifically said were off the table. This is why he hated doing media stuff.

"Just three, you got off easy!” Nat teased, turning back to Star Trek. So much for sympathy from his teammates.

He made his way over to the counter where Darcy was working. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her cheek, being careful not to disturb her work.

“Hey, it’s looking good.”

“Thanks. Don’t distract me, I’ll mess it up.”

“I know better than that.” But then because she looked so serious, he leaned down and kissed her neck just enough to make her shiver.

She growled at him. "You're going to pay for that.”

“Sure hope so.” She wasn't really mad, though. He knew her well enough to be able to tell the difference. So he decided that he could stay on this side of the counter and watch her.

“So…how bad was it?” She asked.

"Not terrible. But the reporter guy went off script and asked some personal stuff.”

Darcy wrinkled her nose. “I hate to say it but you have to expect that kind of thing. For every one person that’s interested in how you guys negotiated with the Chitauri, there are going to be ten who want to know who you’re sleeping with. What did he ask?”

“Am I in a relationship. What am I looking for in a relationship. Is Tony Stark as difficult to work with as at seems? That kind of thing.”

"That last one isn’t a personal question. That’s an _obvious_ question!”

Steve grinned, “Next time I should make Tony do the interview and they can ask him themselves.”

"You do that, it better not be NPR. The world needs that in technicolor. High definition…”

“Surround sound.” He finished for her.

Steve watched her work in silence for a few minutes, trying to figure out how he should to say what he wanted to say. Finally he gave up trying to make it perfect. She would figure it out. He spared a look over his shoulder at Bruce and Nat. The Star Trek people were shooting at things so he figured they were pretty engrossed in that.

"Darcy?”

“Hmmm?”

“Does matter to you how I answer those off-script questions? The ones about whether I’m in a relationship?”

“Does it matter to me?”

“That repeating the question trick won’t work with me.”

Darcy smiled, set down her bowl and placed her hands on either side of his face. “Do I still get to meet you on the roof?”

“Of course.”

"Then tell the press whatever you want. It’s cool with me.”

"Are you sure?”

"Sure, I know what’s real. So does everyone here. Although, if you want help making up something hilarious to tell them just for fun, I’m your girl. I rock at that stuff."

Damn right she was his girl. She brushed her lips very gently against his but didn’t try to deepen it. Neither did he, even though he wanted to. The room might be enormous but they weren’t actually alone.

Instead of pulling away, though, Steve locked his arms around her waist from behind and watched her work over her shoulder. She was almost done anyway so she didn't complain.

“If you two decide to reenact Ghost over there, you are going to warn us, right?” Nat shouted from the couch.

“Shut it, Romanov. You focus on your captain, I’ll focus on mine!” Darcy shouted back.

“Reenact Ghost?” Steve asked.

“I’ll tell you later…”

Which meant whatever this Ghost thing was, it wasn’t one of her favorites. If it was, she would have asked JARVIS to add it to a list. So he put Nat’s comment out of his mind and just enjoyed their position while she finished up what she was doing.

“I think we’re just about there…” she nudged a last piece into place. “And done! So... what do you think?”

Darcy had baked a layer cake, coated it with chocolate frosting, then made a surprisingly good representation of Iron Man’s mask on the top, out of yellow and red M&Ms. Since she had not been able to find white M&Ms, she’d filled in the eye slits using a small tube of white frosting to complete the look. It sure looked like Tony’s mask.

"I think it looks great.” Steve said honestly. “He _really_ doesn’t deserve it.”

“Ah, yes he does. He should eat it today, though, because he’ll probably do something tomorrow to _not_ deserve it.” Darcy pulled out her phone, snapped a photo of the cake, and texted it to Tony. Since he was still looking over her shoulder, she showed him what she texted before she hit ‘send.’

**“Your cake, Stark. Nat and Bruce are guarding it in the kitchen for the next 15 mins. After that, no promises. We square?”**

Tony’s reply came quickly: 

**"Nicely done, Lab Rat. Yes, we’re square. In fact, as a bonus, I’ll have J erase most of the footage of you and Cap making out in my elevators.”**

Darcy shoved her phone back into her pocket. “Not sure why I thought he would wait until tomorrow.”

Since he was back there anyway, Steve untied her apron and laid it on the counter. “So what now? I assume you don’t want to wait around for Tony to come get his cake.”

“Not after _that_. And it doesn’t look like the Trekkies are giving up the TV anytime soon. So let's go back to my place and watch a movie. You still haven’t seen Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

As she spoke, she tugged on his arm to pull him towards the door. “And don’t believe any of this new-fangled crap about them changing the title of the movie. The name of the movie is and shall ever be Raiders of the Lost Ark…”

Darcy went on about the movie, but as they rounded the counter, Steve spotted something and had a flash of inspiration.

The half-empty frosting container.

In a blatant misuse of his super-soldier speed, he snatched it up and hid it behind his back.

Raiders of the Lost Ark was probably a really good movie.

And it would be there tomorrow.

The End. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed my first manic foray into this universe.


End file.
